Ashridge Park Women v Barton United Women
TVCWFL Division One
Another sunny day for a short trip on the bus to Cantley Park in Wokingham for the double header between Ashridge Park and Barton United, the first time I had the chance to catch up with the visitors this season. The wet weather during the winter has played havoc with the TVCWFL fixtures and, with a lot of teams in catch up mode, the league has been forced into extending the season into April (and May in some cases) and to introduce these double headers to get the matches played.
Today’s game/s were due to be played with 30 minutes each way, a short half time break and around half an hour in between matches. Strangely it was the same referee officiating today as was at Windsor & Eton v AFC Reading last weekend.
These looked poised to be two tight games between two evenly matched teams as before the game/s they were only separated by two points, Barton sitting in fourth on 26 points and Ashridge two points behind in sixth on 24 having played two games more.
GAME ONE:
As expected, the match was very even in the first few minutes but with the visitors slightly on top. The game exploded into life in the 5th minute, a ball through the middle was not cleared and Sarah Costa picked up the loose ball outside the box and played a delightful little chip over keeper Kari Mietle’s head and into the net. 0-1
Just a minute later the hosts were level. A nice passing move culminated in Lauren Broadhurst picking out the run of Katie Sayer who knocked the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper and just beat the defender to the loose ball to stab it into the net. 1-1
The rest of the game then went into a phase where both sides cancelled each other out and chances were at a premium. Callie Whiting made a nice run down the right and played it on to Kimora Bryan-Alvaranga whose clever move to turn Phoebe Bryant left her clear on the byline, she hit a great cross towards the near post but Mietle was there showing good hands to take control of the ball.
Barton were again on the attack and it looked like a long ball from the back was going to beat the Ashridge defence and leave Costa in on goal until a wonderful piece of improvisation from Elena Torrini who managed to clear with the outside of her right foot over her head from behind her.
H-T Ashridge Park 1 Barton United 1
It was more of the same during the second period with very few clear cut chances being made by either side. Erin Clare played a nice through ball inside the full back to Jahayna Abdullah inside the box but Bryant had tracked back well and managed to clear away for a corner. From the corner a goalmouth scramble ensued inside the six yard box until Mietle managed to hack the ball clear.
Ashridge’s best chance in the second half came from a long Molly Brookes free kick which was just too far ahead of Sayer but looked to be heading into Braodhurst’s path until Alexis Parsons covered well and cleared well.
Barton came close to nicking it at the death, a Tayla Jones inswinging corner was met well by Olivia French only for her header to just clear the top corner.
F-T: Ashridge Park 1 Barton United 1
GAME TWO:
The second match of the afternoon started with the visitors on top again. After an early spell of pressure Whiting tried a shot from distance which went straight into the arms of Mietle and, soon after, Whiting missed a free header from an Alisha Johnson corner and the loose ball was scrambled clear.
On Ashridge’s first attack of the game, a great run by Lauren Boadhurst took her past two challenges before passing on to Scarlett Pratt who saw her snapshot blocked on the edge of the area. Rachel Stevens picked up the pieces and played a fine pass to Katie Sayer who slid the ball across Alexa Bell in the Barton goal and into the net. 1-0
Back came Barton, Aimee Gomersall looked to have a free run into the box until a superb sliding tackle from Molly Brookes blocked the ball away. Tayla Jones had a shot blocked by Elena Torrini with the rebound finding Gomersall again but Mietle had come out quickly and managed to block the shot away to safety.
The visitors should have levelled moments later when a cross from Johnson beat everyone as it travelled across the six-yard box. Abdullah slid in at the far post just getting there before Brookes only to see her touch rise and clip the top of the bar and go over.
United then had a good shout for a penalty after Costa moved into a shooting position on the left of the area and was felled by a tackle from behind but the official waved away their appeals.
They were made to pay for the missed chances just before the break when Ashridge doubled their lead. Broadhurst won the ball back well midway inside their opponents’ half and went on a run, played a lovely one-two with Sayer and then fired across the keeper from the left side of the area, the ball going in off the far post. 2-0
H-T: Ashridge Park 2 Barton United 0
Barton again came out of the blocks quickly with Johnson making a shooting chance for Jones but she delayed for a fraction which gave Brookes the time to slide in and make another fantastic block. The rebound picked up by Jones again only for Torrini to block her effort.
The hosts then increased their lead, Broadhurst again the provider picking up the ball wide on the left, cutting inside and finding Sayer. She shifted the ball to her right foot and saw her early strike beat the dive of Bell and find the bottom corner. 3-0
Barton continued to battle on but kept being caught offside by the well drilled Ashridge defence. In between Scarlett Pratt had the ball in the net for Ashridge but after a long discussion with the assistant on the far side the referee deemed she was in an offside position.
Another quick break from the home side and a nice passing move involving Daisy Cooke and Lucy Thomson found Chloe Barton on the right. She hit a fantastic strike goalwards from 35 yards out and Bell couldn’t get enough on the ball to keep it out of the net. 4-0
Barton still kept fighting and came close again minutes later. Another quality Johnson cross from the right picked out Jones on the left side of the box. She hit it first time only to see it to cannon off the corner of the bar & post.
The away side still plugged away looking for the elusive goal in this half, Sarah Costa got into a good position but decided against hitting a first time shot and the defence managed to block again. Then Jones had one final attempt but her effort went comfortably into the arms of Mietle.
F-T: Ashridge Park 4 Barton United 0
Quite how the second game ended four nil is beyond me. Barton made so many chances but all too often didn’t hit the ball first time or delayed the shot which gave the home defence time to get in a block when the shot did come in. Ashridge were the opposite, they were clinical in front of goal when creating a chance and always seemed to grab a goal at just the right time.
Molly Brookes and Elena Torrini were outstanding in defence, Rachel Stevens played well in midfield and Scarlett Pratt, Katie Sayer and Lauren Broadhurst all shone up front.
For the visitors, Sarah Costa looks a very good player, Alisha Johnson played really well down the right and Tayla Jones looks to be a talented player who has a great left foot.
It’s always good to catch up with Bryn and the team at Ashridge and it was nice to get the opportunity to finally meet the Barton United set up.
All the very best to both teams for the remainder of the season and I have no doubt I’ll be catching up with both in 25/26!
The legend that is sports photographer Andrew Batt was at this game and you can check out his photo gallery from the day by hitting the button below.