Womens 3 Vs Cambridge South 4

An end-to-end match saw Saints Ladies 3s narrowly hold on to a 2-1 home victory against a strong Cambridge South 4s team, with all the goals coming in the first half.

It was all change again for the Ladies 3 this week as unavailability in the higher teams drew regulars up. But the remaining team benefited from the welcome return of the Kimbolton U16s as school fixtures allowed club games for Ruby Lane, Ruby Lorigan, Georgie Bettsworth and Aoife Stokes. The 3s also welcomed for the first time 4s Claire Piper and keeper Steph Simpson, with both ladies proving a smart fit in defence alongside regulars Rosy Sabatino, Katy Lloyd and Karen Sutton.

Cambridge attacked strongly from the whistle, coming close to scoring within the first few minutes as the Saints defence settled into their new formation, with a frantic battle in front of the goal with Rosy and Karen. The home team focused on marking Cambridge tightly, but the visitors experience in shaking off the defenders showed with Cambridge rewarded nine minutes into the game with a goal.

This had the desired effect on St Neots, who found their feet and immediately attacked back drawing level a minute late with a strong strike across the visitors D from Amber Dickerson, finding Kirsty Clarke free on the back post. St Neots followed it up with a number of shots on goal, including a hit out from Rosy in the Saints D finding Aoife at the other end of the pitch with a lovely smack at goal that was saved by the Cambridge keeper.

Centre midfielder Ruby Lane controlled the Saints attack and was instrumental in many of the shots on goal, either setting them up or taking it herself. The 14-year-old took a long corner strike 22 minutes into the first half, sending it towards Katy Lloyd, who passed it back to Ruby running into the D with a resulting shot at goal finding the backboard.

The remainder of the half saw end-to-end play with Lucy Reuben stepping in perfectly for injured Katy in centre defence, and Ruby Lorigan subbing in with ease for the other defenders. Poppy Presland, back after a two week COVID break, kept up the pressure at the other end with a number of shots on goal alongside Kirsty and Aoife. The first half finished with an attacking Saints short corner, thanks to an individual run from Georgie, allowing Ruby Lane to take a huge strike at goal, which was unfortunately disallowed as too high.

Cambridge battled back strongly in the second half, running the St Neots defence ragged. A Cambridge short corner saw a fabulous aerial pick-up and strike, saved by keeper Steph. Claire Piper proved a natural in the defensive short corner line-up, with her first tackles foiling many Cambridge attacks; ensuring she won Player of the Match for the Saints. She was well supported by Rosy Sabatino as sweeper, who picked up many loose balls in the D and sent them back up the pitch to her midfielders.

Up front St Neots fought on, attempting to take advantage of a flagging Cambridge defence, with Kirsty hanging high and picking up passes for a number of solo runs at the Cambridge goal from midway. Ruby Lane continued with her strikes on goal from short corners, with ground and aerial rebounds either picked up by Aoife or Sophie Gurnell to keep the Cambridge defence working hard.

The final 10 minutes kept the watching crowd on tenterhooks as Cambridge made a final push on St Neots to level the match. But the Saints defence held their nerve, with Sophie making one final run at the Cambridge goal before the final whistle blew. Final score 2-1 to St Neots.