GU16 Calypsos 2 - 2 (2-1 APS) London Wayfarers

The Tier 2 Cup competition paired Calypsos with Wayfarers, with whom they have crossed swords many times in the past and will do so again in the Phase One of T2 League this term. This didn’t dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm, and the match was played out in Blagdons next to the noisy A3.

After a rejig to the GU16 T2 squad, Calypsos (the whites) came to this match with two goalkeepers. A cagey affair in the first quarter saw both sides probing and testing each other with their endeavours. The eerie atmosphere was remarkable - we could hear a pin drop! The whites struggled to break down the opposition’s high press and low blocks. The middle of park was congested at times, with neither side making use of flanks. Goal attempts from either side were limited, but Wayfarers did have one of their efforts fly across the whites’ empty goal after Blair initially stretched across to the left of her goal, in her attempt to halt its travel.

The second quarter saw much of the same but Coen capitalised by reacting first to Kubale’s free hit in the 20^th minute, enabling the whites to take a one-goal lead into the interval. Meanwhile Watson marshalled the defence majestically by tidying up a number of missed passes from the blacks. Wayfarers may have counted themselves unlucky with another shot across the Calypsos’ goalmouth.

Both sides slightly picked up the tempo after the team talks at half time, Blair returned and replaced Crockford to deny the blacks a point blank strike. Despite having a quiet game so far, Henkes quite often had to drop deep to get the ball and she demonstrated her predatory instinct to bag her first goal of the day, and second for the team. The two-goal lead was short lived with Wayfarers sliced the white midfield open with surprising ease after a free hit, just like a hot knife through butter.

The final quarter saw the making of a cup tie and both sides didn’t disappoint the spectators. The blacks were pushing for the equaliser while the whites finally put some cohesion into their game by stretching the opposition from both flanks. This resulted in a number of short corners that had been at a premium so far. In the final minutes of the match, Coen would have wrapped up the match but both players and crowd were disappointed to see the umpire disallow what a seemingly well-constructed and legitimate goal – a shot through the hands of the opposite goalie within a crowded D.

Such was the fine margin of the match, we had shuttles to decide the winner to go into R2. Earlier nerves saw the first of five attempts from both teams failed as keepers forced the strikers into acute shooting angles. On the contrary, attackers for both teams (Henkes for Surbiton), found the gaps for the opening goals by wrong-footing the keepers. 1-1 with three shuttles each left. Coen was up next – she not only put Calypsos in front but hers turned out to be the winning strike.

Scorers: Coen & Henkes

Full time result: 2-2

Score timeline: 0-0 (Q1), 0-1 (Q2), 1-1 (Q3), 1-0 (Q4)

Shootouts: 1-2 (Surbiton win on shootouts)