South Reading Vixens

It was a tough fixture but the girls were up for the challenge against one of the league’s top teams. The Diamonds had dropped just three points all season, and the Vixens were going to have to work hard to stay in the game. Consequently the team adopted a more defensive formation than usual, as Nicole dropped back to play just in front of the back two. With three midfielders and no attackers, most of the game was going to be played in the Vixens half, and so it proved. Westwood pushed forward from the kick off, but came up against Zoe and Stacey in excellent form with Nicole dealing with anything in the centre. It took 20 minutes for the Diamonds to open the scoring, Nicole blocked the initial shot but the ball fell kindly for the hosts and an excellent first time strike gave Dom no chance. Just a minute later Westwood broke through again, but this time Dom dived full length to her right to push the ball round the post for a corner.

The second half saw more Diamonds pressure, although Shannon S, Deanna, Perri and Hannah managed to break away on occasions. Again it took 20 minutes for Westwood to add to their tally, when a long range shot was hit hard and low just beyond Dom’s outstretched fingers. So it finished 2-0 to the hosts, but it was a superb battling performance from the whole team against bigger, stronger and more experienced opponents.

Squad: Dominique, Shannon S, Stacey, Zoe, Hannah, Nicole, Deanna, Perri

The Vixens player of the match was Nicole, who played in an unfamiliar position and was outstanding throughout.