Woodley United Ladies v Abingdon United Women
It’s always a pleasure to catch up with the ladies at Woodley, a team I followed quite extensively in my inaugural season as the Wandering Tractor. There’s always a nice welcome even when they’re not playing at home, as in this case, hosting this preseason friendly on the all-weather surface at Waingels College.
It was great to see the core of the team was still together, the two Mollie’s, two goalkeeping Sophie’s, Sarah, Charley, Holly, Kate and with a few new faces to get to know over the course of 24/25. Also there was Andy Wicks, the club’s photographer, programme editor and creative digital graphics mastermind and it was great to get the opportunity to catch up with him too.
I had planned to walk it from Earley which would have taken around an hour and, with it being a tad on the warm side, it wasn’t something I was looking forward to. Andrew Batt came to my rescue by giving me a lift to and from the college, Thanks Andrew!
Did I mention it was warm? That might be a slight understatement. It was very warm indeed and with the sun beating down this friendly would definitely be a real test for both sides. It had been decided the teams would play three periods of 30 minutes, in Woodley’s case that would give them the opportunity to give a run out to some new additions and also to try out different formations. Abingdon for their part were possibly looking to use this as a fine tuning exercise with their FAWNL season beginning in two weeks’ time with a tough looking first game against free spending Bridgwater United.
The first period started as you’d expect with the FAWNL side probing to find away through the back four of Woodley. They scored their first around the ten minute mark with a fine effort from outside of the box soaring into the roof of the net. Their second came from a penalty for a barge in the area which was despatched with ease.
Their third was another good strike from distance again finding the roof of the net. Woodley did get one back from a free kick on the right which was headed goalwards, the Abingdon keeper making a great save pushing the ball onto the crossbar but the Woodley forward reacted quickest to the rebound to bundle home.
First Period: Woodley United 1 Abingdon United 3
The second period started in much the same vein with Abingdon pushing their SRWFL rivals. They scored their fourth early in this section following some excellent play on the rightwhich produced another quality finish. Soon after the visitors were given what looked to be a soft penalty by the official which was again despatched giving the Woodley keeper little chance. Five minutes before the second break Abingdon grabbed their sixth as both sides started to feel the effects of the intense heat.
Second Period: Woodley United 1 Abingdon United 6
By the third period the temperature had reached 28 degrees with the pitch probably being 4-5 degrees higher. You could actually see the heat rising from the all-weather surface, with players from both sides commenting on how hot their feet were getting. Understandably the game slowed with Woodley looking to give a late push. I’ll hold my hands up now, I missed Abingdon’s seventh as I was too busy trying desperately to find some shade behind a handily placed shipping container which was producing a little shade. That’ll teach me to forget my cap, a schoolboy error!
F-T: Woodley United 1 Abingdon United 7
A good game considering the conditions, Abingdon were clinical with their finishing and their front three looked a handful, ably assisted by runners from midfield. They were rarely troubled in defence and I’m looking forward to seeing them again in September, this time against FAWNL league opposition.
Woodley will be able to take some positives from this match. There were some impressive performances all over the pitch including some of the new faces and it was interesting to see the way they switched personnel and formation throughout. With another 4-5 weeks until their season and, with the return of some of the established players missing today, they have the time to fine tune.
Finally, it was great to meet and talk football with Tim, a groundhopper I’ve recently been chatting with on Twitter. He’s a nice bloke and a keen follower of women’s football so give him a follow on @TimboATFC to track his groundhopping exploits this season.
Also really nice to finally catch up and have a good chat with Carol, the mum of Kara Howes, one of the Abingdon players and a victim of one of my portraits from her Wycombe days!
I look forward to catching up with both sides as the season progresses and good luck to both in 24/25!
To see more photos from the game click the button below to visit Andy Wicks’ website.
As mentioned, Andrew Batt was also at the game and you can view his gallery by clicking the button below.