Kelburne Ladies' 3s Miss Out to Stepps

Saturday 29th Sept 2018 - Kelburne Ladies 3’s played a consistently strong game today being coached and encouraged by Jen Morgan, against a more experienced, and at times, overly aggressive opposition. Stepps put pressure on the young team from the start and an early shot on goal was skilfully cleared by Rebecca. Stepps pressed high to keep the pressure on the Kelburne defence which remained solid during each attack. All the mid field and defenders working well together to clear the ball on a number of occasions. Stepps continued to attack and were awarded 4 short corners in quick succession. Each time the Kelburne defence charged out at the attacking players with speed and confidence. The 5th short corner saw Stepps connect with a blistering number one hit which produced a fantastic save by Elaine. Carol cleared the ball out to Jen and Kelburne were on the break. Jen squeezed a neat pass through to Morven who then had a short run on goal making a shot which went just side of the post. With renewed belief that this game was not going all one way Kelburne took opportunities to intercept and gain possession. The constant high paced game continued with chances being created at both ends of the pitch as Ailsa, Ally and Jodi supported in defence , Niamh, Eve, Jessica & Fiona worked hard in midfield while in play, and Emma, Abbie, Lucy, Jen and Charley looked opportunities to pressure Stepps near the goal. Tenacity and determination meant the half time score line was 0-0. With renewed energy the first 5 minutes of the second half looked like Kelburne had the upper hand. With a quick interception and turn of speed Stepps quickly had the ball in Kelburne’s goal area and won the first short corner of the second half. A clean corner saw Stepps take an early lead in the second half. The team showed maturity in quickly getting back into the game. A short corner for Kelburne resulted in a shot from Jen going just wide of the post again! In the closing stages of the game there was frustration from Stepps as they continued to press high at every opportunity only to be outrun or manoeuvred. In the final minute of the game Stepps continued pressure resulted in being awarded a short corner. The whole Stepps team surrounded the Kelburne goal area to try to score another goal. The defence reacted quickly to the injection and then experience Stepps forward struck the ball high into the top right hand corner of the net. The opposition were foiled again as the shot was spectacularly saved by Elaine’s ketchup coloured glove. Final score 1-0 to Stepps. Onwards and upwards for this team who next play away to Uddingston on 6th October at 4pm.