Chelmsford 2 Doncaster 1

Premier Division

Chelmsford 2 Doncaster 1

AFTER a bright opening couple of minutes, Chelmsford failed to take control of the match and the game became evenly balanced with no clear goal scoring chances for either side.

The first penalty corner of the game went in favour of Doncaster who was denied a certain goal by the young Chelmsford goalkeeper, Helen Fagg. This fine save seemed to spur Chelmsford into action and, following a quick passing move, defence soon turned into attack, finishing with a goal when Lynn Bollington skilfully deflected a pass from Chloe Rogers over a diving 'keeper.

Following the goal, the speed of the game increased with both teams moving the ball quicker, with Helen Fagg being the busier of the two goalkeepers.

Midway through the first half, Lisa Wooding showed great individual skill when bringing the ball out of defence and, following a couple of passing moves with team mates, had moved with the ball into attack. Wooding was unlucky not to get the chance of a shot on goal, having the move break down after a Doncaster player had made an illegal tackle on the edge of their defending 'D'.

Following the interval, Doncaster was awarded a penalty flick which they duly converted. Doncaster continued to press for a much sought after winning goal but were unable to take any of their chances. Chelmsford, for all their efforts, found it increasingly difficult to find any of their form of recent weeks and the play was mainly contained within the middle of the pitch.

Chelmsford finally broke the deadlock after being rewarded a free-hit just outside Doncaster's 'D'. Lisa Wooding took the resulting free-hit and her pass found Charlotte Roberts who, making only her second appearance in the Slazenger EHL Premier Division, deflected the ball into the far corner of Doncaster's goal.

Chelmsford lifted their game and had a few more goal scoring chances. But this period of dominance was short lived.

Chelmsford finally won the match 2-1, but it was far from a convincing performance. They will need to improve next Saturday when they welcome reigning league champions, Leicester to Chelmer Park for a 2pm start. Leicester, who are the current league leaders appear to have hit form in recent weeks, having scored a total of 22 goals in their last two league matches.