East Women’s League

Divison 1N

SUDBURY travelled to this away fixture and return match knowing they needed to improve on the performance of the opening day of the season where they lost 5-1.

So with the momentum and performance of last week’s nine-goal thriller still fresh in their minds Sudbury went into this game wanting to take all 3 points from local rivals Bury.

The first half saw Bury start the stronger of the two sides pushing forward from the off, passing the ball around well and keeping Sudbury pressed into their own half for the first 10 minutes or so. Sudbury soaked up this pressure well with Ruth Warnes and Daisy Palmer making some timely tackles to thwart the Bury strikers.

Bury were awarded several penalty corners but were unable to convert any of these as once again Tracey Caddock, Rene Clark, Warnes and keeper Sandra Mackay stood strong with some excellent tackles and saves. After some good build up play Gemma Jones was put through only to see her shot go wide. An injury to one of the Bury players gave Sudbury the time to huddle together for a quick team talk which seemed to be what was needed as just after this Clark made an awesome pass from a 16 yard hit out which found Emma Barry in the Bury 23, unfortunately this left her isolated as none of the Sudbury players were up with the attack and Bury were able to put the ball into safety.

The second half saw a more even battle with the play going from end to end. Bury continued to try and create the opportunity to score that opening goal but were broken down and frustrated by former Bury player Cheryl Clayton, Jess Shepherdson and Jones in mid-field.

Sudbury then decided to re-cycle the ball around the back more after playing most of this match down the left side of the pitch. Sudbury kept trying to look for the breakthrough themselves, this nearly came when Collette Cottrell Williams gathered the ball at the half way line on the right drew the Bury defender and with the pass found Jones running in at the top of the ‘D’ who hit a first time shot which produce an excellent save from the Bury keeper!

As the time was running out Sudbury again found Bury putting the pressure on and attacking the Sudbury ‘D’ one such attack leading to Mackay pulling off a great save from the Bury forward. With less then two minutes to play Sudbury had to do a reshuffle after Clayton had to be carried off after hurting her knee.

Sudbury ended the game with discipline and hard teamwork by denying Burys efforts to gain the advantage and that elusive goal.

All in all Sudbury should be pleased with this performance and build on it for Saturday’s home game.

Ruth Warnes and Jess Shepherdson shared Player of the match.