Sparks 6 - 1 Wimbledon 4s (H)

The Sparks were desperate for a good result after last week’s display, and luckily we didn’t disappoint. There was a bit of shuffling around with some of the usual defenders missing, so a shout-out to Mana and Emily for seamlessly slotting into those positions when called on.

Much to Charlotte’s dismay, she wasn’t on the field when the first corner was given on ten minutes, and I had to take her short corner striking duties. The straight strike went through the keeper's legs, and the early goal gave us confidence going forward.

We dominated the match from this point on, with the ever-impressive Saya popping up in the D and getting a sneaky touch past the keeper on 18 minutes.

Charlotte’s quest to score every goal for every team she plays for continued with an excellent “cricket-like” deflection just after half-time.

The only blight on our record came in the form of a breakaway goal, which was well-deflected within their D.

We were awarded a P-flick in the 45th minute, and much to everyone’s surprise, Charlotte did admit to a weakness in her arsenal and didn’t want to take it. Or perhaps she was just being kind... whatever it was worked because Ruth stepped up to slot it away. 

The goal seemed to give Ruth some focus, as her next one came in the 56th minute when she calmly pushed the ball in from the top of the D. I say the P-flick had focused her given that she had tried a similar manoeuvre earlier in the game and only succeeded in missing the ball completely - yet somehow I was still voted DOD…

By this stage, of course, Charlotte had had quite enough of sharing the goals and decided it was time to take back some control at the next awarded shortie just after the 60th minute. As always, her straight shot got the best of the keeper, and order was restored in the goal-scoring department.

I’d had an elongated ‘rest’ on the side of the pitch for the last 10 minutes, so I was able to happily watch what I think was the finest team performance the Sparks have had this season. There was excellent communication, the forwards made the right runs, the midfielders worked their socks off, and the defence was expertly marshalled by Sunny into a solid and reliable backline that was rarely troubled, with Marlijn making an exceptional diving save early on in the game.

A wonderful way to return to the top of the table.

POM: Ruth, for her two goal and great leads

DOD: Courtney for getting a little too comfy on the bench