Allscott v Cannock
Sunday 20th September 2009
Allscott suffered their first league defeat in 18 months on Sunday and it came as a shock to the system, but there had been early warnings from Cannock, had they been heeded then things may have been different. Cannock let Allscott know in the first minute that this would be no easy game, they won a corner and only great stop from Jeni Millward kept out a shot from ex Allscott player Gemma Moss. The Cannock striker then found a way past Zara McIntosh to hook a shot over the bar. Allscott’s best effort in the opening ten minutes fell to Sophie Blocksidge whose header, from a corner, went wide of the post.
The home team then found their rhythm and found a spell of sustained pressure that they should have got something from but instead it was Cannock who took the ball to the other end and were denied by a great defensive block from Jess Austin. Allscott caught Cannock on the break from Austin’s clearance and an Isha Alsadek cross come shot almost caught out Hannah Waddell in the Cannock goal at the near post.
The game opened up with end to end chances. Jen made a great block, while just after at the other end Jamie Phillips made a great run on the right wing to pop her shot wide of the net. Cannock again gave Allscott warning of their intentions when they carved open the defence to draw Jen out of her goal to leave her stranded, with the goal gaping Cannock should have scored but had not counted on Harriet Reilly making a brave challenge to keep them out. This was a wake up call for Allscott who seemed to come to life, Sophie chased down the keeper and was unlucky to beaten by her. Jamie sent in a fine corner, Casey Starling got on the end of it but unleashed fierce shot over the bar.
Cannock broke the deadlock on 40 minutes after a dreadful decision saw them win a penalty for handball, when all of the spectators had a clear saw that it was the yellow sleeve of a Cannock player that made contact with the ball first. Helen Tonks stepped up to the spot and made no mistake in putting the visitors ahead. 0-1.
Allscott were obviously stunned by the decision and almost allowed Cannock a second straight after but they shot wide. On the stroke of half time Cannock did extend their lead when Jo Richards burst through the defence beating Harriet in a one on one battle to plant the ball into the net giving Jen no chance at all 0-2.
HT – 0-2
The second half saw Allscott come out attacking to win an early corner, Jamie crossed it in but Isha could not get to it. Poor defence then saw Allscott slip further behind, Jen was unprotected to a great degree but looked as though she had Richard’s shot covered then saw it slip behind her into the net 0-3. All credit to Allscott who stuck doggedly to their task despite being in a position that they were not used to at this point of a game, Casey made a great run to pass the ball to Jamie only to see the final ball blocked on its path to goal. Zara then attacked a great ball in from a corner but saw if fly a touch over the cross bar. Great interplay between Casey and Jamie began to open up Cannock as Allscott began to play the kind of football they are respected for, but it was probably a case of too little too late. Isha made a terrific chance for herself, racing down the wind to go it alone and push her shot just over the bar. Casey was then behind a great move that saw Waddell in the Cannock goal pull off a fine save from Isha.
If there was any justice in the game then Allscott were due a bit of luck and it came when Cannock were penalised for a handball in their box. A confident Jamie never looked like she would fail as she stepped up to send a powerful penalty kick past Waddell. There was a bit of controversy at the other end when the Cannock striker appeared to kick the ball from Jen’s hands bit the ’no nonsense’ referee soon sorted it out and got on with the game.
Allscott made two changes with Beth Hughes and Ami Crump coming on to bring fresh legs into the game. Ami was quick to trouble the opposition keeper and from her persistence Jamie sent a shot into the box that the keeper caught then dropped, when the ball came back out Emma Lowe sent a header over the bar.
There were lots of positives in the final minutes of the game but they made no difference to the outcome of the game, with Cannock holding on to their 2 goal advantage to win 1-3. Manager Jamie James said : ‘It is one loss in 18 months, but I won’t worry too much about it, we have to dust ourselves down and get on with the rest of the season.
Final Score: Allscott 1 – 3 Cannock
