The L1s had to draw on its squad once again this week as they faced South Berkshire at home, meaning another heavily change match day team and unfortunately, this was quite obvious from the starting whistle as we were not ready for this weeks visitors.

The away team were constantly in our half from the get go! Their quick players were always first to the ball and put pressure on our defence relentlessly! The Wanderers managed to keep them from scoring until the 29th minute, when a shot towards a cluster of sticks found a deflection into the goal.

This lit a fire, and something clicked in the forward line. Ellie’s burners switched on, and she legged it through a barrage of white shirts to the oppo’s D shortly followed by Julie who on receiving the ball won a short corner. From this, Julie took a simple hit from the top of the D to give us the equaliser just before half-time.

The second half started stronger — the burners stayed on and possession became more even. South Berks regained the lead from a hard-fought short corner, but this only kept our drive high. With end-to-end play, another short corner came our way. Julie’s first shot was stopped, but Sophie loomed up top to bang in the deflection without controlling it first.

The game was now 2–2. Emotions started to rise and both teams fought to the end — tackles became choppy and bodies were being thrown around. The final whistle blew as Steph kept the ball in the corner to run down the last few minutes.

Sophie was MOM this week for her newfound midfield skills