Okehampton ladies 2
Plymouth University 3
OKEHAMPTON started with the upper hand and their controlled passing cut through the Plymouth side and pushed the game into their half. This dominance soon paid off with a short corner. The smooth passing around the circle gave Jane Jones the chance to make a superb strike to catch the goalkeeper wrong footed to give Oke the lead within five minutes. The nature of the play then changed. University with their very fit, able and young players are a better team than they were earlier in the season and showed very effective passing.
Skilful dribbling at speed put the Okehampton defence under pressure but several short corners were foiled by the excellent tackling of Carol Taylor. Other attacks were cleared by Oke's player of the match Sophie Whiteley who played with confidence and bravery. Plymouth had several strikes that just missed their mark and Oke were pleased to reach half time holding the score at 1-0.
The second half started more evenly and Plymouth equalised with a ball that slunk in gently with all players off balance. Oke restored their lead when a good pass from right back Sandy Douglas was picked up by Lesley Bingham; she slipped the ball to Jo Moppett, who powered her way through and around several defenders to score. The speed of Plymouth intensified and they used the whole pitch with accurate crosses. Oke under pressure in defence found it difficult to get the ball out of their half. Intense effort was required and Sophie Whiteley flung herself in the way of several well co-ordinated attacks. She was backed up well by Sandy Douglas, who stopped two goals on the goal-line.
Eventually an acute angled cross struck the post and bounced in for Plymouth to equalise. Plymouth then scored again with a good strike off a short corner.