Leatherhead (2s) 5 – 2 Berrylands

Goals Sharon, Sofie D

The sun was shining at Therfield School but as we took to the pitch, we were two players short ….. Canela and Sofie had been stranded by an uber driver somewhere in deepest Surrey and were desperately trying to find their way to the ground. They finally arrived about 15 minutes late, courtesy of hitching a lift from a kind local lady!

Leatherhead took advantage of our somewhat disorganised start and scored two goals in the first 4 minutes and try as we might, we could not overcome that deficit. Nobody watching the game (Ruth and Cathy) could deny the total effort put in by the whole of the Berries squad – running and tackling to win the ball but then, having put in all that effort, failed to pass the ball accurately and all the hard work was undone. Leatherhead put together some fine passing moves using all the pitch and Berries found it difficult to get past their experienced defenders and kicking back. We had plenty of short corners, all of which Leatherhead managed to keep out of the goal though Grace and Sofie had close misses. Sharon finally took a chance when the ball broke free in the D and took a shot which somehow bounced and bobbled its way past the post! 2-1 against the odds. The crowd went wild. “Come on Berries”, shouted Fermin, our No 1 fan.

Half-time and we took some refreshment to up our energy levels – special juice from Patagonia with secret ingredients courtesy of Lucia S and family. Surely this would do the trick? Sadly, no, as Leatherhead scored three more goals but at last Berries showed what we could do – Lucia took the ball up the centre of the pitch and passed it forward to Sofie who beat the goalie with a lovely shot and there was the welcome sound of the ball hitting the backboard. However, it was too little too late and Leatherhead fully deserved their 3 points. Off to Oxshott Cricket Club for welcome refreshments – soup and plenty of cake! And the bar was open. What more could you want?

Squad Teresa (goal), Emily, Hannah, Cairalee, Sharon, Lucia S, Canela, Sofie, Grace, Ali, Helena