Venue: Kirklington Road, Rainworth, Notts
Competition: WPL Midlands Division 1
Scorers: Suzanne Gelson (41), Jemma Douglas (42), Emma Allen (77), Emily-Jo-Anne Bryan (80)
Stags line-up:
Gascoyne, Braithwaite, Allen, Bridge, Davis, Tucker, Bodle, Douglas, Webster, Gelson, Watton. Subs: Walton, Potter, Kiernan, Hobson, Bryan.
Visitors line-up: not known - but went the whole game with only nine players.
As Forest Ladies v Stoke City was a noon kick-off, and other commitments ruled that out, a search for an alternative game came up with this Div 1 fixture. Forest won 3-2 and Stoke had two players sent off in the game I couldn't get to. Although the Stags Ladies netted four without reply, they only had to face 9 players, and with a record as poor as Curzon Ashton's, scoring only four could be considered a poor result.
The Stags record is not brilliant, but they have now won three games and have also reached the final of the Women's County Cup competition.
P14 W3 D5 L6 F21 A36 Pts 14
Curzon only had two "officials" in their dug-out - so the entire travelling team contingent was eleven. They play their home games at Dukinfield Town FC, situated between Ashton and Hyde and I suppose on a cold Sunday afternoon getting players to travel so far is always going to be a difficult ask.
Dedication
The Stags had a full 16 squad, and with numerous other "officials"
their dug-out was barely big enough!
I thought I was going to be on my own watching this game, but luckily for me local footballer and friend Dave Bramwell turned up and kept me company throughout the proceedings. I don't think I could have lasted the whole 90 minutes on my own - it was cold, windy and the entertainment left a lot to be desired. Still - it was free to watch so at least the wallet didn't suffer.. and the four goals did mean a bonus of £3.00 to maggie's.....
Despite playing 9 "men", it took the Stags until the 41st minute to bag the first goal, a neat cross from the left clipped home under pressure by SUSANNE GELSON. Almost from the restart, the home team doubled their lead, JEMMA DOUGLAS converting after Laura Watton had controlled well before picking her out in front of goal. H-T 2-0
We had to endure another bleak spell until the Stags added to their tally on 77, and I think it was more luck than judgement when EMMA ALLEN fired the ball in from the right, and watched it glide gracefully over the Curzon keeper and nestle in the far corner of the net.
Three minutes later EMILY BRYAN completed the scoring, firing home a terrific shot from the edge of the box. F-T 4-0
Admission: £0
Programme: no
Attendance: 18
Charity: £3.00
