Tenbury dominate the match but concede an equaliser in final minutes

Redditch Ladies 2 Tenbury Ladies 2

In a dramatic opening to the match, Tenbury scored within the first minute when Nicky Mills completed a fine passing movement from the hit off. She collected a pass from Rachel Croxton who had driven through the midfield, and fired a powerful shot from the top of the circle into the corner of the net. Tenbury continued to dominate the game but failed to press home the advantage. Redditch came back into the match with two short corners, the first of which was well saved by defender Lindsey Aldridge and the second by goalkeeper Kaylee Hurdiss. Tenbury pressed again to increase their lead but could not get shots on target. When Redditch were awarded their third short corner they levelled the score with a fine strike. Opportunities by Tenbury to increase their lead before half-time were again unrewarded despite good shots on goal by hard working forwards.

However, within a minute of the start of the second half Tenbury did impose their dominance by taking the lead once again. Oli Linton completed a flowing move by taking the ball into the circle and slipping it past the goalkeeper. Redditch immediately counter attacked and Jessica Preece made an outstanding stick save against a powerful drive in the circle and two short corners were well defended. Tenbury took play back into the Redditch half of the field with some fine passing movements in which Emma Hillhouse and player of the match Nicky Mills caused the Redditch defenders constant problems. The Tenbury mid-field was solid with Lindsey Aldridge marking tightly and Oli Linton making driving runs into the circle. Both players provided frequent attacking opportunities for the forwards. Rachel Croxton’s incisive flowing breaks maintained Tenbury’s dominance. But with two minutes left, the game also ended in drama. Redditch produced one final attack down the wing; the ball was centred and pushed into the goal in a final scramble. It was a disappointing result for Tenbury who should have made more of their opportunities to retain their high league status.


Tenbury Ladies 3 Droitwich Ladies 1

Tenbury produced another fine performance to retain their strong league position when they defeated Droitwich 3-1 at Bridge Street on Saturday. The first half was evenly matched with both teams producing strong attacking opportunities. The Tenbury defence remained resolute and a well hit short corner by Droitwich was saved on the line by Oli Linton, who then had a goal disallowed when she struck a ball into the Droitwich net from a corner that rose too high. Tenbury opened the scoring a few seconds before halftime, when Nicky Mills broke free in the centre and made a devastating run into the circle and scored with a well placed shot.

Tenbury became more dominant in the second half with Abi Thomas and Sarah Nightingale causing the Droitwich defence problems in containing their skilful penetrating runs. Amy Ewen and Rachel Croxton provided their usual effective second phase support and produced a superb display in both defence and attack. Tenbury increased their lead when Linton hit a short corner with tremendous power into the corner of the net. She collected Player of the Match award for the second consecutive week for her outstanding all round performance. Droitwich remained in contention and worked hard to get back into the game, despite the wave of attacks on their goal. They reduced the arrears when the ball found a stick in a goal mouth scramble and was pushed into the net. But Tenbury responded immediately with a fine passing movement from Lindsey Aldridge to Linton who squared it to Tina Bickley and she clipped it powerfully past the keeper. The result was based on another fine team performance which keeps Tenbury close to the top of the table.