GU14 Ospreys Play Well Away at Reading
By Manfred Lam
GU14 Ospreys 2 - 1 Reading GU14
London SC & SE GU14 Tier 1B Pool A Match
Finally the thrice-rearranged match versus Reading kicked off under the idyllic Berkshire spring. Both sides looked tense, as soon as the first the whistle went - a lot of probings & ploddings to seek out opportunities earlier on. At times, the midfield was congested and neither side was able to exploit the tight space.
The breakthrough finally came around the tenth minute mark with Fegan bringing the ball to the final third. With Reading committing an extra body to their defence, Fegan was able to exploit the space created and angled a perfect pass to Nendick who had her shot saved by the opposition goalie. Fegan’s follow up was again blocked, but Ospreys kept up the pressure from Nendick and Thomas. Fegan then picked up the loose ball and pivoted the return pass across the goal mouth. Henkes tapped in the rebound ricochet off the defender. One nil.
Ospreys doubled their advantage with Henkes picking up her second of the match with a clean strike through the crowded Reading defence. In response Reading countered and retrieved the deficit to 2-1 at half time.
The second half was played out in a similar pattern as the first - clean cut opportunities were few and far between. Overall Ospreys played better hockey and took the slim margin of victory to the next week’s game against the league leader, that has a better goal difference, with four teams at the top level on points. All to play for the finals with two games to go.
Scorer: Henkes (2)