Fjordhus Reivers 1
Erskine Stewart’s Melville 1
NATIONAL LADIES DIVISION TWO
FJORDHUS Reivers welcomed the city side to Tweedbank for what is always a tight, hard-fought affair.
ESM passed back and from the start Reivers showed their intentions.
Good organisation and battling performances in midfield from Pippa Bell and Denise Fairbairn stopped the visitors creating some attacking plays. Slick interplay by Nicola Wheallans and Morven Cawthorn down the right of the pitch created openings and caused the city side no end of problems, but the Reivers strike force failed to convert these opportunities.
Both teams were finding it difficult to break each other’s defences.
On 19 minutes a well-struck penalty corner from Emily Newlands was saved. The visitors nearly took the lead when a slack pass from defence was picked up and, with three players tearing towards her goal, Stacey Tennent managed to close the angle and partly stop the ball. Jackie Wilson saw the danger and from five yards away dived and at full stretch scooped the ball off the line.
Reivers continued to press, but against the run of play ESM gained a dubious penalty corner and from the resulting strike a sweep shot from left of circle rattled into the goal.
Spurred on by Captain Bell, Reivers continued to attack and striker Leisa Poole had some sublime pick-ups and touches to turn her marker inside out.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, a great example of strikers working in unison was displayed. From a probable lost-cause ball, Laura Mclean won possession on the base line, fed it back into Elena Lunn who slipped it to Poole to smash in the equaliser.
The match erupted into life, both teams peppering each other’s goal for the final 15 minutes.
In what was a gritty display by her players, coach Janet Jack was pleased with her team’s commitment, but frustrated at some areas of play that will be worked on at this week’s training.
Fjordhus Reivers: S. Tennant, P. Bell, J. Wilson, M. Douglas, L. MacLean, J. Jack, K. Millar, Z. Higgins, N. Wheallans, M. Cawthorn, L. Inglis, E. Newlands, L. Poole, D. Fairbairn, E. Lunn.