A View from the Zak! - National Edition!!

ESFA Women's Under 18 Colleges' Trophy Quarter Final
South Essex College vs. Worthing College
Reporter - Zaki Rahman

The girls travelled to Southend in the quarter final of the ESFA national cup 3 weeks after making the exact same journey, including the exact same mistake to get lost when finding the ground, knowing that a win would put them in the top 4 in the country and would set up a semi-final tie with Filton.

The pitch had a considerable slope and it was obvious that this could potentially play a big part in the game. Worthing played the first half up the hill, and going down the hill suited South Essex’s game well.
A good battle began to develop between the sharp South Essex number ten and Fleur Charman at the back for Worthing. South Essex looked to turn Worthing in behind regularly, utilising their pace, but the Worthing back four were dealing with it well. Meg Cave would win almost everything on the first ball and anything that was over her saw Charman sweeping round.

The majority of the first half was played in the Worthing half but saying this it was not causing any danger to the Worthing goal, as Lauren Binfield was just watching shots go past the post from distance. In fact the clear cut chances of the half fell to Worthing; firstly Lucy Somes danced her way through two defenders and into the box before blasting the ball straight at the keeper. Then only minutes later, Naomi Robinson stole the ball from the left back and jinked inside to have a clear sight at goal before blasting over the bar. The game was fiercely competed in the middle of midfield with Sophie Frost and Jemma Kendall coming up against a strong battling opposition and having one of their harder fights of the season, with Kendall ending up in the book.

But Worthing’s solid defence and battling up the hill was rewarded just before half time when an up and under from Amy Potkins found Robinson in the penalty area who beat the defender to it and put the ball away to put Worthing in front. 1-0.
This is how the game stood at half time, and Worthing could be delighted with this as thoughts as the half went on were that 0-0 at half time would be good.

The half time word was to just keep battling as naturally we would be on the front foot because of the slope. The next goal was crucial to how the game swayed.

The second half started with a similar nervous and cagey sense to it with neither side wanting to open the game up too much, but Worthing were getting through the South Essex defence with one simple move. Massive Binfield drop kicks were seemingly always beating the two centre halves and leaving Somes and Potkins to chase down the loose balls.
But Worthing were not making the most of these opportunities and as the game wore on, South Essex’s belief began to grow. This belief turned into fortune when the referee awarded a controversial decision, a South Essex corner saw Frost and the South Essex centre back collide with two high feet, with the referee delaying before pointing to the spot. The Worthing players were bemused and tempers nearly boiled over when Charman and the player she had been marking squared up after a few words were said. This time Charman’s name was taken and another fine for a Worthing player after she had been caught pushing the Striker. South Essex converted the penalty and the game was now level with just over twenty minutes to go, which would have meant extra time. 1-1.

But Worthing were almost spurred into life with the award of the penalty and the handbags that followed, and tackles became a little bit stronger and Worthing were winning balls that were 60-40 in Essex’s favour.

After a few nearly opportunities, with the final ball not quite being there, a chance was made from almost nothing. Robinson picked up the ball deep and drove towards the area, after beating a second defender she smashed the ball from the right hand corner of the box, the keeper was easily beaten but this time it was the bar that denied Worthing, the ball bounced down pitch side of the line and the game carried on at one a piece.
Was it going to be one of those days where Worthing didn’t get the run of the mill? Again quality from Robinson saw her beat a player before sliding through a perfectly weighted pass for Somes who took one touch and put the ball across the keeper and into the far corner for Worthing to restore their lead. 2-1.

With South Essex pushing on to try and get back in the game, they were hit with a killer blow, which can be classed as unfortunate and one of the more lucky goals of the season.
A clearance from the South Essex keeper was headed back by Frost and with all the defenders pushing up with the kick made Somes look offside. Somes didn’t really have time to react to the ball shooting passed her, so stuck out a leg to try and get the ball under control about 30 yards from goal. The keeper had not yet restored her position in the goal and the Touch from Somes diverted the ball round the keeper and into the empty net for everyone to look across at the linesman. Somes was not offside and everyone looked baffled, and this was shown with Worthing’s rather awkward celebration after they hadn’t quite worked out what had happened.

A solid defensive performance was seen out till the end and Worthing had secured their place in the last 4 with an impressive performance. In a one off cup tie any result is possible, and with a similar performance to this one then Worthing can believe they have a good chance of turning Filton over.

Players of the Match – Meg Cave and Fleur Charman, for a brilliant partnership at the centre of defence. They listened to Mike’s advice about dealing with a quick striker and dealt with her very well. They were a solid base to build a good win on.

Zaki