Buxton Ladies 1s vs Ashbourne Ladies 2s

29 September 2018

Result: 0-4

Player of the match: Kirtsy Dewberry

With a team of mostly defenders and few attackers, some new and some returning faces set out to face Ashbourne, the Buxton Ladies 1s were ready for a tough fight during their first match of the season (ready after a brief warm up thanks to Nicole Roe giving the convoy a scenic tour of Ashbourne). Karen Chetwood was suffering from altitude sickness up on the right wing whilst the rest of us were suffering from sun stroke in tropical Ashbourne. Despite the odds, right from the start, a mix-matched Buxton team, out of positions and with new faces, looked strong and very much in control. With many strong pushes up the pitch helped by the youthful energy of Ellie Higgins-Brown and Karen Chetwood’s new-found attacking skills, Buxton were soon up 1-0 with a goal coming from the Buck’s own pocket rocket, Kirsty Dewberry.

Solid defending from Emily Bradbury, Sam Armitage and Sharon Sessions didn’t give Ashbourne a chance alongside some good linking passes between Captain Nicole Roe, Emma Longden and Karen Chetwood through the middle seeing the ball move effortlessly towards Ashbourne’s D.

Nel Dexter-Lowe wanted in on the goal scoring too so took an interesting reverse to the ball, only to realise it was the wrong goal – thankfully it was too wide and keeper Helen Szostakowicz held back from taking her out. Buxton soon scored another goal thanks to Nicole Roe, making it 2-0. By half time, the Buxton team were looking strong, confident and with more to give.

Keen to keep their momentum going for the second half and once again use their strong passing play to outmanoeuvre their opposition no time was wasted in asserting dominance. Samantha Armitage worked tirelessly moving the ball up from defence to the newly formed forward line of Chetwood, Dewberry and Higgins-Brown. Winning a short corner for their efforts, Dexter-Lowe injected the ball to Dewberry short on the left, who’s powerful shot was saved by the Ashbourne keeper. Still keen to put her mark on the score sheet Dexter-Lowe was more precise in her efforts and pounced on the rebound to take the score to 3-0.

Ashbourne were not deterred by the Buxton onslaught and pressed forward at every opportunity, causing Szostakowicz to stake her territory and take out the players as well as the ball. The umpire wasn’t sure about her methods and awarded a short corner at the other end of the pitch but Ashbourne’s shot was no match for Sharon Sessions who lay herself in harms way to keep the ball at bay.

Seeing how effective Session’s technique was, Maddie Wojtowicz followed suit amazing onlookers with a string of seeming impossible tackles from the floor.

Doing the opposite, and staying on her feet to excellent effect, Kirsten Moore made a darting run to intercept a stray ball, feeding to the ever hungry Dexter-Lowe at the top of the D who fired the ball home and put the game beyond Ashbourne’s reach.

The game ended a reassuring 4-0 to the visitors with Kirsty Dewberry picking up a well earned player of the match for her successful transition to centre forward.