It had to be a much better performance by The Belles to overcome a stubborn and resolute Bushey side. And that is certainly what is was especially in the second half when The Belles got to grips with the very tight, small pitch at The Moatfield. The Belles very nearly scored in the first minute, but Katie Davis shot was inches wide. On this pitch is was very easy to turn defence into attack, and Bushey being used to this pitch were certainly very good in this department. But our back four dealt reasonably well with this threat, Kate Harte must have got a headache with all the defensive headers she was having to make as Bushey sent through a few long bombs towards our penalty area. At the other end a few chances went a begging. Katie Davis and Clare Howe both went close on several occasions. Then on twenty two minutes we went a goal down, but as Arsene Wenger often says "I did not see that incident", and Idid`nt as I was tending to an injured Desiree Yearwood. She was replaced by Maisie Wyatt, who would later have a big impact in her first game for the team. Thankfully an equalizer was not long in coming. Three minutes before half time a great pass from (I think) Serena Lawrence found Clare Howe wide on the right. She did well to beat a defender and cross the ball back from the bye line. This caused a certain amount of panic, and at least two shot were charges down before the ball was cleared. But the loose ball was met first time by Kate Harte and from twenty yards she hit the ball into the roof of the net. A great strike for her second goal of the season. Level at half time, that was just about a fair reflection of the game so far. We were confident at half time with the slight slope in our favour that we would go on and win the match from here

However it was Bushey who like ourselves in the first half had the first opportunity of the half when a shot shaved the top of the crossbar. That was to be their last threat, well almost. We took full advatage of that let off when five minutes into the half we went 2-1 in front. Katie Davis weaved her way through a crowded midfield and went through one on one with the keeper and calmly placed the ball into the net for her fourteenth goal of the season That was a good individual goal, but what followed ten minutes later was a good team goal. Maisie Wyatt and Megan Willmott broke up a Bushey attack down our left. They worked the ball out, and Maisie set off on a run down the wing. She then picked out Clare Howe with an inch perfect through pass. Clare advanced into the penalty area and finished with a cross shot into the far corner. A very well worked goal, that was Clare`s eighth goal of the season. It had been hard work building a two goal cushion and now it was time to maintain our concentration. But with ten minutes left we let it drop and Bushey appeared to have pulled a goal back. But there was relief all around when the referee disallowed it. Could not quite see why, but there must have been something he saw, it may have been offside, if it was, it was a tight decision. We made the score 4-1 with three minutes left when Maisie Wyatt chased a through ball. As the keeper came out she chipped the ball over her and it bounced into the net off the inside of the post. Maisie`s first goal for the team, in her first match. It is said a team is vulnerable after they have scored a goal. We were, as Bushey took advantage of some sloppy defending from the re start to pull a goal back. This was a dissapointing end, to what had been a very good half. But the main thing was we had the three points. As I said at the top, much better than last week, good solid team performance, and several good individual ones too.

Team today, Thea Fraser, Alice Bowler, Megan Willmott, Serena Lawrence, Kate Harte, Bethany Smith, Alicia McIntosh, Leanne Lizaitis, Katie Davis, Clare Howe, Amy Garrett. Desiree Yearwood, Alex Matcham, Laura Pethybridge, Maisie Wyatt

I said at the start of the season that Harpenden would not be far off the top at the end of the season. Today they had a 2-1 win over Hemel Hempstead and keep the pressure on us. Check the league table to see how things stand

Back to results page