Maidenhead United Women showed all of their battling qualities - and no little skill - in dominating the majority of their FAWNL Division 1 South West fixture at Bridgwater, coming away with their first point on the road this season which was the least that Dave Kitson's team deserved.
For the second league match in succession, United came up against an inspired opposition goalkeeper who was later voted player of the match by the home team's sponsors. As the rain came down in Somerset, the visitors made a good start when Charlotte Johnson in the home goal pulled off an astonishing treble save inside the first five minutes. Captain Simone O'Brien was denied on the turn and the loose ball seemed destined to be prodded home by Megan Harper, only for Johnson to somehow parry that second effort before clawing another attempt behind for a corner. At the other end, the Magpies Amy Whale was forced into a good save, pushing the ball onto the pst and clinging on to the rebound in nightmarish goalkeeping conditions.
Maidenhead - missing some key players through injury - were on the front foot for most of the game and Aaliytah Charles saw a shot whistle narrowly wide before Harper had a first time effort cleanly gathered by the faultless Johnson. A wicked cross from the excellent Chloe Webb narrowly evaded the oustretched boot of Harper prior to the break when both sets of players enjoyed a rare respite from the torrential showers.
Into the second period and another incredible save from Johnson denied O'Brien whose effort from an onside position was kept out at almost point blank range. Maidenhead then found themselves down to ten players for ten minutes when Webb was sin-binned for showing her frustration at how events were unfolding but still the visitors pressed and it was hugely against the run of play when in the final seconds prior to Webb being allowed to re-enter the fray Bridgwater worked an excellent move down their right hand side for Scarlett Mills to stand up a wonderful cross which was bundled home by Steph Beck for the opener with less than fifteen minutes left.
Teams with lesser character would have struggled in such adversity but the dangerous Harper finally got reward for her industrious play as she broke into the area and was clearly fouled as she went to cut inside the covering defender. Katie Akerman - who had earlier seen a freekick bounce agonisingly away to safety having struck the underside of the bar - held her nerve from the penalty spot to beat Johnson at last with a low shot into the bottom corner.
Manager Kitson beamed post-match at a "fantastic performance", stating his immense pride at his team's "determination to take what we deserved from the game." The manager will want a similat level of performance next Sunday as they welcome an Ascot United side who have made a strong start to life at FAWNL level. Tickets for this intriguing-looking derby match will be priced at £5 for adults, £2 concessions with MUFC Gold Members attending FREE on presentation of their membership card. Tickets are available for pre-purchase via our online ticketing portal.
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