On a dank and drizzly Saturday morning Chesterfield W2s travelled to Sheffield to play mid table Sheffield Bankers 4.

The game began with a strong start from Chesterfield who dominated the first 10 mins of the game. An early run at goal by midfielder Elise into the Sheffield D put pressure on the Sheffield defence and won Chesterfield a short corner within the first few minutes of the game that unfortunately couldn’t get converted to a goal. Chesterfield continued to exert pressure on Sheffield during the early stages of the game with a further run of short corners, one of which resulted in the ball finding the back of the net off a super strike from Elise, only to be disallowed as a lifted ball. Play then changed in Sheffield’s favour which saw Sheffield have a run of chances around the Chesterfield defensive goal. Chesterfield’s defence of Anna, Emma and Sam held firm whilst keeper Lauren made some great saves. As Sheffield built pressure against the Chesterfield defence 2 short corners were awarded in quick succession but were kept out by great saves from keeper Lauren and a brave charge from Nic toward the Sheffield striker taking the shot at the top of the D to deflect an attempt at goal and keep a clean sheet for Chesterfield.

As the end of the first half approached, Chesterfield again went into the attack and won further attacking short corners with a goal coming just before the half time whistle from a decisive short corner set piece. A stunning injection from Chloe to Abi at the top of the D, which was then beautifully switched to Freya who deftly touched it on to Elise on the left, who converted the chance into a goal with deadly speed and accuracy.

The debate still rages as to who actually provided the assist, was it Nic for winning the short corner, Abi for the stunning switch of play or Freya for actually playing the ball to the goal scorer for her to score? Needless to say, Abi’s spreadsheet of assists and goals needs to redefine the term to accurately capture the great team effort that resulted in the goal. Chesterfield went into half time with a 1-0 lead.

From the start of the second half Chesterfield continued to apply pressure on Sheffield with some excellent linking play between the midfield of Chloe, Macie, Sophia, Freya, and Nic who managed to carve out another chance for Elise, which unfortunately did not find it’s mark.

After a turnover of possession Sheffield were quick on the counter, fashioning another couple of short corners to challenge the Chesterfield defence but with the Sheffield strikes kept out of the Chesterfield net.

Following the pattern of end-to-end play Chesterfield once again counter attacked, led by midfielder Sophie driving forward from her own defence through the Sheffield ranks and playing a great ball to Elise for a run into the D and shot at goal, deflected by the Sheffield keeper for striker Jasmine to rebound at the goal which narrowly missed its target.

Chesterfield continued to pressure in Sheffield’s 25 until around the 60 minute mark which saw Chloe play a lovely pass into the D to find Esme who was beautifully positioned for her shot at goal which narrowly missed.

A quick turn around by Sheffield caught Chesterfield off guard which allowed for a quick Sheffield counter attack and resulted in the equalising goal. An accurate diagonal pass across the D met at the far post by one of the banker’s sticks to make the score line 1-1 going into the last 10 minutes of the game.

Chesterfield refused to give up on the win during the final stages of the game with continued pressure and further chances from Nic Elise, Esme and Jasmine around the D but in the end Chesterfield had to settle for sharing the points.

Player of the match votes for
Nic, Lauren, Macie and Sam but player of the Match went to Elise for end to end runs, attempts on goal and for scoring Chesterfield’s only goal of the game. This result leaves Chesterfield W2s 2nd in the league.
Match report by Sam

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