Weymouth Women Development Squad 3
Locke-White 13’ 57’ Wilkinson 20’
Longfleet Lionesses 5
Nelly 10’ 16’ 36’ 50’ Clare 68’
Pre Season Friendly (15/08/21)
REPORT: James Spring
Weymouth Women’s Development Squad played their first-ever game on Sunday with a friendly against last season’s recreational league champions Longfleet Lionesses at Redlands.
Despite not having played together as a team before, and this being the first taste of women’s football for some of them, they gave a fantastic account of themselves and competed well against an established team.
After a tight opening ten minutes in which both sides cancelled each other out, Longfleet took the lead with a powerful strike into top right side of the goal from the edge of the box.
Weymouth looked for an immediate response with Gigi seeing a shot roll half a yard wide of the post, but within 3 minutes Weymouth were back on level terms. Caprice Locke-White was quickly onto a ball through the middle of the defence and she coolly slotted it home for 1-1.
Parity would only last for another 3 minutes, however, as Longfleet retook the lead on 16 minutes – Nelly latching onto a loose ball and just managing to get a foot to it to knock it past the advancing goalkeeper for 2-1.
The first quarter continued to be end-to-end, and on 20 minutes Weymouth were level again. Meg Wilkinson managed to outrun a defender and fired it into the corner of the goal giving the goalkeeper no chance.
Weymouth almost took the lead on 25 minutes when Wootton’s shot hit the post and went behind. Shortly after Caprice Locke-White managed to beat the away goalkeeper to a loose ball. She rounded the goalkeeper but shot wide under pressure from a defender.
Wilkinson and Locke-White continued to cause the Longfleet defence plenty of problems. Wilkinson forced the goalkeeper into a sharp save. Locke-White then had her shot from the rebound blocked behind for a corner which was scrambled to safety.
After withstanding a good spell of pressure, Longfleet retook the lead against the run of play with a smart chipped finish over the advancing goalkeeper, as Longfleet took a 3-2 lead into half-time.
Longfleet began the second half with a series of corners which Weymouth defended well and they were able to clear their lines.
Ten minutes into the second half Longfleet doubled their lead when Nelly latched onto a ball through the defence, beat the offside trap, and slotted the ball into the net with a neat finish.
Weymouth heads didn’t drop though and on 57 minutes they halved the deficit. Caprice Locke-White netted her second of the afternoon with an excellent finish from the edge of the box.
Longfleet would regain their 2 goal advantage on 68 minutes with an absolutely sensational strike that flew into the top corner from all of 20 yards.
Weymouth continued to push in the final 10 minutes. Wilkinson, Locke-White and Wootton all had shots wide or saved, whilst goalkeeper Issy Heybourne was on hand to make two excellent saves late on – in particular, one close-range effort which she turned onto her post at point-blank range.
Longfleet held on for a 5-3 victory, but it was a proud afternoon for Weymouth’s Development team. An enjoyable game and an exceptional performance all round especially for their first game together. This group of young ladies will only learn, grow and improve individually and collectively over the season as they play more games.
TERRAS: Heybourne, Hayne, Gallichan, Berguecio, Whelton-Legg, Locke-White, Wilkinson, Riley, Wootton, Porter, Ciftlik.
