Post by Dave on Oct 6, 2019 18:54:26 GMT
Match Referee Jason Hawkin Assistants Adam Willer & Jordan Grimes
Final Score Buckland athletic Woman 1 Plymouth Argyle Ladies 7
A very rare opportunity to cover a football match today and one I was not going to miss. I love going over to the Heath and I always enjoy meeting up and chatting with the legend Roy Holmes.
Being out of the football loop for a while now I have not been able to keep up with all the changes made to a number of our local leagues, so this will just be a report on today’s game and how I saw it. My views as always will be honest and unbiased and maybe different from any views anyone else might have of the game.
I remember covering a number of the Buckland woman’s team matches in their very first season back in the 2015/16 season. Back then they were playing games at places like Amada Park in Torquay and beating every team they played by twenty goals or more.
It has all been up since those days with promotion after promotion and a number of 100% leaguer records along the way. That was the case last season and the team won promotion to the FA Woman’s National League Southwest as one of the top 100 ladies teams in England. What a wonderful achievement for the woman’s team and Buckland Athletic football club.
I have to be honest and say I did not recognize the current Buckland Woman’s team as it has changed since the team was first formed and I was so looking forward to seeing them in action. The pitch looked in very good condition and the sun was shining brightly, a perfect football afternoon.
Before I go any further I must say the standard of the woman’s game has come on such a long way over a very short period and Buckland faced an excellent Plymouth Ladies side that were just too good for them on the day.
The game got under way and there was not much action for the first five minutes but the Plymouth Ladies were passing the ball around much better than Buckland On Buckland’s very first meaningful attack they took a very early lead. A free kick was fired high into the Plymouth box and was met by a glancing header from Sarah Stacey that flew over the keeper into the roof of the net.
But straight from the restart Plymouth were back on level terms, a long ball played in danger lady Jessie Jones who hit a low shot across Abigail Bond in goal for Buckland into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. Every time Jessie Jones got the ball she looked like scoring and had another great shot just inside the Buckland box that was well saved by Abigail Bond.
Plymouth soon took the lead when a long low ball was played into the Buckland box from the left hand side and fired over the line close in by Natasha Knapman. Buckland were facing wave after wave of Plymouth attacks and were unable to mount any attacks of their own.
It was no real surprise when Plymouth scored again, a real goal mouth scramble with the Buckland woman unable to clear the ball out of the danger zone and it ended up getting knocked over the line close to the right hand post. I am not 100% sure who got the final touch, but it might have been Zoe Cunningham.
Buckland had just one more attack in the first half, a breakaway by Sarah Stacey who made a powerful run into the Plymouth box but took her shot far to early and maybe could have gone closer in which resulted in a very easy save for Rebekah Kyle in goal for Plymouth.
Just before the break Plymouth made the score line four goals to one, a powerful shot from the right was well saved by the Buckland keeper but the loose ball went out to the left and was fired home by Helen Bleazard.
Was there a way back for Buckland in the second half? Well sadly within just minutes of the second half they fell further behind, a wonderful lob from outside of the Buckland box by Natasha Knapman that gave Abigail Bond no chance of making a save.
For a very short while the Buckland players seemed to have cleared their heads and started passing the ball much better, but it was very short lived and Plymouth regained complete control of the match. Their passing and movement was so much better and they used the flanks to very good effect.
Buckland did not create one single chance during the whole of the second half and could have lost by a much higher score line. Plymouth had moved into an even higher gear and looked like scoring with every attack. Jessie Jones for Plymouth hit another great shot from the edge of the Buckland box that only just cleared the crossbar.
Buckland’s Jana Richards had to go off due to an injury as Buckland tried even harder to try and get into the game, but could not contain the Plymouth forwards. Plymouth’s Helen Bleazard went on a great run and shot for the edge of the box just over the crossbar, but you knew another goal was just around the corner.
Helen Bleazard came close again to adding to her teams lead when a free kick taken by Jessie Jones was met by an acrobatic scissors kick that saw the ball hit the top of the Buckland crossbar.
Zoe Cunningham made it six one with a great strike from the edge of the Buckland box and too rub salt into the wounds Plymouth scored again. A very poor kick out by Bucks keeper Abigail Bond who was right out on the right hand side of her box went straight to Zoe Cunningham who fired the ball home into the back of the unguarded net.
A very good game to watch and the better team won on the day, but the Buckland Woman will bounce back from this defect and get back to winning ways of that you can be sure.
