Christchurch were on the wrong end of some clinical finishing to crash to a heavy defeat against IES. It was a day where nothing seemed to click for the visitors and as the home side grew in confidence and played with greater freedom with every goal, so Christchurch commensurately laboured. No individual played badly, but as a team, Christchurch performed well below their best. If you’re going to suffer a heavy loss, arguably better to do so under those circumstances than having played to your full potential.

MOTM: Kate L

Christchurch were narrowly edged out during an enjoyable match at Chantry. 

Sprowston were skilled and organised and certainly enjoyed the best of the first half. The opened the scoring when a spell of frantic defending left the Christchurch D crowded and muddled, and when the ball finally emerged, it fell to an unmarked Sprowston player by the post for a straightforward tap in. They soon doubled their advantage when the hosts were caught defending high and Sprowston managed to slip in behind. Although Linzi was down quickly to smother the first shot, neither she nor the retreating defenders could stop the follow up.

Much like the previous week, Christchurch came to life in the second half and made a spirited comeback. Becky, Katy and Megan all came agonisingly close to scoring before Lesley poached a deserved Christchurch goal following excellent team play in the build up. Sprowston were finding the Christchurch defence, which included Kathryn Smith making a welcome cameo appearance, a more difficult nut to crack this half. Elsewhere, Megan taunted Sprowston with her dribbling skills, Katy covered practically every blade of synthetic grass and Ali made a series of vital tackles and interceptions in midfield.

So we just have to work on finding that upper gear for a full seventy minutes then!

MOTM: Katy

A fairly even game, but Christchurch came away with mixed feelings. A point away from home is not to be sniffed at, but there had been good opportunities to steal all three points.

Hoping to keep momentum from the previous week, Christchurch made a good start, immediately putting Loddon under pressure and looking comfortable. But Loddon rode out the early storm and started to attack more and more themselves. Deep into the half, they won a short corner and the Loddon captain's crisp strike nudged them just ahead at half time.

From the pushback, Christchurch woke up and quickly equalised, easing through the midfield and leaving defenders standing, Lizzy picked up the ball and bravely took on the keeper, leaving Megan to deliver the coup de grâce for her 3rd goal of the season. After that, Christchurch took charge of the game and could have sealed the win if they’d managed to take advantage of any of several goalmouth scrambles. 

MOTM: Marion and Katy

If ever there was a game of two halves, this was it. In terms of incident, excitement and entertainment, it ticked all the boxes.

The first half unquestionably belonged to Christchurch who started strongly and visibly grew in confidence as the minutes passed. It didn’t take too long to open the scoring. Great work from the midfield set strike partners Lois and Megan free, bearing down menacingly on goal, drawing the goalkeeper and slipping for Megan to find the net. A second goal came when Megan dribbled down the left side of the pitch and took a shot across goal, and when the deflection off the goalkeeper fell to Lizzy on the penalty spot, she made no mistake from seven yards. When Megan added third goal with a strike from an acute angle, Christchurch looked more than comfortable but Ipswich were not to be written off. The visitors won several short corners which they were unable to convert and had a great chance to score when the ball was pulled back from the baseline towards the penalty spot. With the goal gaping, no-one was close enough to connect. But Christchurch were working together like a well oiled machine and continued to make chances themselves with Megan coming close, Katy striking just wide and Lois almost converting from a short corner. An absolute gilt-edged chance then fell to strike partners Megan and Lois when they found themselves 2-on-1 with the goalkeeper. The slip was timed perfectly but delivered with just too much weight to be picked up cleanly and, like the ball off the back line, the chance trickled away.  

Although buoyant at half time, there are no easy games in this league and Christchurch knew they had to be wary of a backlash. Indeed, the visitors won possession almost instantly from the push back and hit Christchurch hard with wave after wave of attacking play. Ipswich got a goal back from a short corner, close stick control baffled and muddled the defence, opening up just enough space to push the ball home. The Ipswich onslaught continued but Christchurch shut out a string of short corners and some dangerous breaks. They were finally breached again deep into the half when a clumsy tackle was punished with a penalty flick, confidently converted. Ipswich continued to largely dominate the second half but Christchurch attacked when they could and dug deep to doggedly defend their lead. As full time approached, Christchurch won a long corner and Megan cleverly kept possession by the corner flag to take the pressure off the rest of the team and allow precious seconds to tick away. The full time whistle was a relief for both teams who had worked their socks off on a ridiculously hot day but where Christchurch were over the moon, Ipswich will have gone home as sick as parrots.  

MOTM: Megan