Blues jump into the top four

By David Hansen

Margate Women go 4th in the SECWFL Premier Division after a convincing 3-1 victory against London Road at Hartsdown Park.

Margate took the lead inside the 1st minute of the game when Abbey Luby played a brilliant ball across to Speller who had time to control the ball and fire into the back of the net to set the ‘Gate on their way.

Speller was causing all kinds of issues early on and almost grabbed her 2nd goal inside 10 minutes when she was sent through again but placed her shot just wide of the far post.

Only 16 minutes in and Speller had another chance, this time as she rounded the keeper but couldn’t find the shot as the angle was too tight, so she played the ball back to Chapman who could only fire over.

Margate were punished for missing their chances when Chloe Edwards blasted a shot from outside the box into the top corner out of the reach of stand in goalkeeper Abbie Greetham.

After all their missed chances, Margate retook the lead when Katy Hyde snuck round the back of the London Road defence and smacked her shot in at the near post just before half-time.

Margate continued to create chances throughout the 2nd half becoming more dominant as the game progressed but it took until the 77th minute to kill the game off when Chapman picked out Niblett on the right and managed to force the ball under the keeper into the goal earning the ‘Gate all 3 points and a jump into 4th place in the division.

Steph Meek had her say following the victory:

“Of course I’m delighted to take 3 points from today, that’s 4 consecutive wins across all competitions. To take the win, even when for a large portion of the game you’re not on form makes a huge statement about the quality of this team.”

“We talked in the changing rooms this afternoon about values. A value I should have added to that list was accountability and that goes for me too. There were tensions from individual expectations but they came out and showed their class.”

“To turn around a negative mindset and perform as they did 2nd half I can be nothing short of proud. That takes some real reflection and on the spot mindset changes, something we all have to learn to do from time to time.”

“3 goals from 3 different scorers, a sterling performance from an outfield player in goal and a defensive line that held their own , with the oppositions only goal coming. From a long distance shot.”

“We head into another cup game this coming week and it’s essential the team relax and focus on the game in hand. We know where our attention lies and we’ll be working hard at training Tuesday to develop our own game.”

Margate return to action next Sunday when they take on XL Academy in the Kent FA plate at Hartsdown Park. Get your tickets for that game by clicking here. 

Lineup:

Greetham, Charman, Kemp, Coltham-Lai, Luby, Slevin (c), Kew-Stroud, Niblett, Hyde, Chapman, Speller.

Subs:

Harrington, King, Scales, Mann, Meek

UP THE 'GATE

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