Dominant performance from Ladies 1's

Havering Ladies hosted Chelmsford 3s this week in their bid to win promotion from the Essex Premier League. Having narrowly beaten the visitors in the earlier fixture Havering were expecting a tough match. From the start though Havering dominated and made it hard for Chelmsford to get going. Chelmsford did defend well and made it hard for Havering to create the space to shoot. Emily Gilkes-Tarsey created problems with some great runs down the wings and Catherine Semon went close with several penalty corner strikes. The breakthrough finally came after good work by Sue Harwood found Emma Isherwood in front of goal who took the ball past the oncoming keeper and pushed it into the far corner. Chelmsford rarely broke out of their defensive half but Steph Prowse, Wendy Schofield, Monica Dubb and Harwood all worked well at containing any pressure meaning keeper Sophie McCoy had little to do. The second half began in the same fashion and Havering soon extended their lead. Prowse hit a ball through to Isherwood who dribbled the ball from the halfway line into the circle and slipped it to Chris Noller who met the lifted ball to fire in a great deflection. A third came quickly after through a penalty corner. Semon slipped it to Gilkes-Tarsey whose shot was deflected in by Lauren Earle. Rhiannon Goulden and Emily Martin made some great runs and Amelia Acreman worked hard in midfield breaking down play and setting up attacks. It was a deserved win that keeps Havering's promotion hopes strong.