We arrived at the pitch in good spirits, against Bexleyheath & Belvedere W3s, despite the falling temperature and pouring rain! Sutton Valence Ladies XI came out fighting and dominated the first half. There was fantastic passing up the pitch, using the width and key link ups on the right between Amelie Pritchard & Megan Saunders. Maddie Wills made several strong, lightning fast runs as Centre Forward, and made several brilliant tackles, winning back the ball for the team.

After continued running up and down the pitch, for both teams, the first goal was scored, for Bexleyheath & Belvedere from a strong cross and dinked in at the far post.
Sutton Valence came back fighting and Morgan Lee distributed the ball, with powerful slap hits across the pitch to Frankie Bavin who drove up the left wing with speed & determination. After attacking the D several times and putting pressure on the opposition, Sutton Valence were awarded their first short corner. Frankie Bavin injected the ball to Fayth Turner, who slipped it right to Nicky Coomansingh, she took it wide, away from defenders running out. Suddenly, Coomansingh changed direction, with the ball on her reverse and her back to goal, she delivered a smooth Tomahawk to the left and it shot past everyone into the goal, bottom left. Sutton Valence & their fantastic supporters all cheered with delight! Coomansingh was over the moon to finally get on the score sheet!!

Tragedy struck for hard-working defender, Debbie Saunders when she pulled her calf muscle, and that meant running was now too painful. The defence team pulled together and battled again against the relentless, strong attack from Bexleyheath. Captain, Claire Edmed, called for the midfielders to support them and to "Get Back!" Our amazing goalie, Indie Beech made a couple of fantastic saves but a short corner was given when a ball hit a foot in the D. Sadly, Sutton Valance were a touch slow when defending the short as the umpire did not blow her whistle (instead she said "play") and a solid strike from one of the opposition sent the ball onto the backboard, just before the whistle for half time. The score was 2-1 at half time to Bexleyheath & Belvedere W3s.

Our team started the second half in good spirits, as the rain had stopped, but the opposition had a couple of new players that strengthen their side and within 5 minutes they had scored, 3-1. Several Sutton Valence players were struggling with cold viruses and had to dig deep to keep on running so the team could keep their shape. Natascha Strydom played centre defender and was keep super busy in the second half. She worked tirelessly to clear the ball away from the D but sadly Bexleyheath scored their 4th goal. Enthusiastic Erinn Fahy Thompson was in great positions on the left and worked hard as a forward, making some excellent connections with Morgan Lee and Frankie Bavin. Sutton Valence were awarded a short corner, for a stick tackle, which Frankie injected and Morgan struck at the goal but it went wide, to the left. A few minutes later, Sutton Valance were awarded a second short corner, which was repeated but this time the ball shot towards the right post and sadly we didn't quite make it to the post to tap it in! Sutton Valence were getting tired but tenacious Nicky Coomansingh kept running up and down the pitch supporting the forwards and getting back to help defend. Bexleyheath were on a roll and scored their 5th goal but Sutton Valence pulled together and kept playing well, passing the ball between each other. Amelie Pritchard made several brilliant calls to Nicky Coomansingh, who passed it right to Amelie and the ball travelled up the wing, to Megan Saunders, who worked extremely hard to get the ball into our D.

Fayth Turner took over as Centre Forward when skilled Maddie Wills had to retire. Morgan Lee delivered more exceptional long passes across the pitch and Fayth completed some fantastic runs, out in front and on her own, taking some shots on goal which sadly went wide. Soon after Sutton Valence were awarded another short corner. Nicky Coomansingh was receiving the ball this time. Another fantastic injection from Frankie Bavin meant that the ball came straight to Nicky C who took it into the D and delivered a mighty slap hit and the ball shot into the left-hand corner of the goal. 5-2! Unfortunately, that did not stop Bexleyheath & Belvedere who took control again and were relentless at attacking into the D. Claire & Natascha fought on; kept stopping balls and relentlessly clearing them from the goal area, with Claire Edmed calling out directions for play. Our goalie, Indie Beech made save after save, but a ball came in over her head and that meant they got their 6th and final goal. With a few minutes to go Sutton Valance defended hard in the D again and eventually the whistle blew. The final score was 6-2 to Bexleyheath and Belvedere W3s.

Thank you so much to our amazing supporters and parents; we really appreciate you being there, cheering us on! Mr Beech said: So proud of the team, they are getting better every week and more confident every game. Their next opponents better watch out!

Players of the Match were: Amelie Pritchard and Nicky Coomansingh.

Report By: Nicky Coomansingh

Goals: Nicky Coomansingh

Team:
Claire Edmed
Debbie Saunders
Megan Saunders
Natascha Strydom
Nicky Coomansingh
Indi Beech
Fayth Turner
Amelie Pritchard
Morgan Lee
Erinn Fahy Thompson
Frankie Bavin
Maddie Wills

Next and Final Match of 2025: Bromley & Beckenham (H) 9:30