Cup Match vs. Plymouth University

At 8pm on a very cold Friday night Dawlish ladies faced Plymouth University in the first round of the cup. Following some depleted Dawlish turnouts it was a full team with substitutes that braved the cold night air.
From the start it was a fast paced and physical game but the young Dawlish players of Rhiannon Depla, Amy Reed and Mel Barnes were strong from the start. Plymouth opened the scoring going one nil up and demonstrating that in front of goal they are not going to hold back.
The Dawlish side fought back with great attacking runs and Helen Nicholson broke through the Uni midfield and with one man to go was obstructed falling dramatically. Dawlish break again and this time Nicholson plays the ball into Denise McMahon in the D who holds the ball up and shoots to level the score.
The back two of Many Lovell and Sue Trout keep the Uni forwards at bay but before half time they go ahead again. Dawlish come back strong in the second half winning a succession of short corners from positive attacking play. Anne Darby’s short corner is played to Nicholson who finds a way through the defenders and scores to level the score.
Plymouth seemed determined not to go home with anything less than a win and in the pursuit of their winning goal it was the Dawlish players not the goal which took a beating. A high shot from the top of the D hit Anne Darby in the face and Dawlish lost their right half.
The next Dawlish player to receive a high ball to the body was influential mid field player Lottie Young who took the full blow the arm. Uni eventually found away past the Dawlish defence and Keeper Sarah Webster to take the lead again.
Dawlish continued to fight hard but once Young left the field to leave a ten man Dawlish Uni took advantage and took the game out of Dawlish’s reach to make the final score 2-4.
League match vs. Ottery Crickets
It was a slightly worse of wear Dawlish team that faced Ottery Crickets last Saturday following their physical match against Plymouth University the previous evening but none the less a full side keen to record a league victory.
Dawlish controlled the game from the whistle and despite last night’s injury Anne Darby made some great runs down the right wing which Grace Clifford was unfortunate not to convert to open the scoring.
Despite the positive start it was not long before Dawlish seemed to be suffering from playing their second match in 24 hours and were letting the match be played at Crickets pace and style. It was Crickets who eventually scored before half time finally finding a way past Dawlish Keeper Sarah Webster.
Dawlish came out positive again in the second half with Jess Green showing no signs of slowing down as she out ran the Crickets defenders. Fresh legs of Amy and Liz Reed came on to replace injured Nicholson and Young and the pace of the game turned to Dawlish’s advantage. The home side showed strength and control in midfield from Gemma Wilkes and Lizzie Reed and some great movement sent Jess Green on another great run into the Crickets D and passed the keeper to level the scores.
Dawlish were disappointed not to get a second goal with Green coming close again but at the final whistle some tried legs were happy to leave the field with a point.