Rutherford Ladies v Birtley Town Ladies

Today we played Birtley Town Ladies for the first time in two weeks. This game today was in the league with next weeks being a county cup draw.

The game didn't start well for us seeing our passing and football being played veyr sluggish. This allowed Birtley to get on top of the game really pressuring at us and forcing us to defend and for our goal keeper Charlie to pull off some great saves. On the 8th minute of play Birtley won a corner which saw the ball attacked at the back post and put them ahead. This seemed to be the wake up the team needed and they battled back hard for a chance at the other side of the pitch.

The remainder of the first half saw end to end attempts from both sides and real good football battle. We entered the half time break 1-0 down.

The girls had a good rest at half time seeing Birtley take the full 15 minutes, we had a good team talk and they seemed up for the second half and what a different team performance we saw.

We now began to really pressure at Birtleys defence and keeper seeing them put in some crucial tackles to keep us out as well as an array of superb saves from their keeper. After a tactical sub was made to replace tired legs in midfield we were once again on the attack when a Birtley player handled the board around the half way line. Midfielder Steph W who had just came on 2 minutes previous as a substitute too the free kick sending it across the heads of the Birtley back four where striker Zarr raced in winning the ball and slotting it straight past the keeper leveling the score line. A superb goal from start to finish.

The remainder of the game saw some really good football played and some great chances created by the home side but unfortunately without any reward thanks to the Birtley keeper pulling off some cross bar saves. Birtley broke a few times on the counter looking like either team could steal the game but the final whistle blew and a point was awarded to each side.

A superb battle between the two sides made for a great game of football for both teams supporters.

Player of the match today was awarded to Kirsty 'Scottish' Williams for her excellent work rate and performance in teh middle of the park. Sh e grafted hard all game putting in crucial tackles when needed and thoroughly deserved this award today. I think the new boots were a hit.

Well done Ladies!!!