Petrol two

Honiton Hornets ladies 3

Okehampton ladies seconds 2

WITH only three fixtures left to play before the end of the season this match against Honiton Hornets was key to Okehampton retaining second place in the league.

It was vital that they took an early lead but this was not to be the case. The visitors, despite their efforts, presented a muddled method — poor ball control and a lack of accurate and consistent passing, allowing Honiton to dominate play.

Debbie Pritchard worked tirelessly in the Oke defence to mark a swift Honiton winger, whose skilled reverse stick strike on goal wrong footed goalie Alice Wiseman to score the opening goal.

Okehampton, though, did not give up. The ball was frequently passed up, down and across the pitch between both teams, making it challenging for Oke attacking forwards Alex Collins and Annabel Rademaker to get possession of the ball; with Honiton's defence closing down any attempts they made to enter the circle, the score remained 1-0 to Honiton at half time.

A change in defence proved more fruitful for the visitors initially. Anna Luxton, kept pace with the attack, stalling many opportunities Honiton had by clearing the ball off to the sidelines. Rachel Adams' strong block tackling kept the relentless attacking forwards from scoring. When they did try, goalie Alice Wiseman was at the ready, clearing many fast and powerful shots out to sweeper Sandy Douglas, who ran up the pitch at pace linking with midfielders Rochelle Woollacott and Larissa.

But Honiton continued to dominate and put pressure on Okehampton, creating space and scoring two well deserved goals in quick succession.

Okehampton, despite lacking execution of their usual team work and skills, rallied on. Captain Rochelle Woollacott, with unwavering enthusiasm, battled to feed the ball to the forward line, struck a clear pass to Emma Wiseman who made a quick break into the circle. A one on one clash with the goalie took her out of play injured; nevertheless, Annabel Rademaker took advantage of the absent goalie and scored the first Oke goal.

Viv Weatherington and Anna Speak worked hard to regain the team's format in midfield, and it paid off as in the closing minutes of the match they linked with Annabel Rademaker, with a long and accurate passing ball.

She found herself in front of an open goal and scored her second goal of the match. The final whistle blew, much to the relief of Honiton and the disappointment of the visitors. Oke player of the match was Anna Luxton.

Okehampton seconds 3

Sidmouth and Ottery 1

THE first half started off slowly for both teams with neither side securing a goal for the first 15 minutes.

However, despite Okehampton's best efforts from the defence and Alice Wiseman in goal, the opposing team made a quick counterattack into the D and scored to make the score 1-0 to Sidmouth and Ottery at half-time.

Okehampton came back stronger in the second half and quickly equalised with a goal from Alex Collins.

The game continued to go well for Oke as Annebelle Rademaker put Oke ahead while  Viv Weatherington hit another goal during the last seven minutes.

Player of the match for Oke was Anna Speak.