Tavistock Ladies 4

Plym Valley 0

THIS week was a tough draw for the Tavistock ladies against current top of the league team Plym Valley.

The game started at pace with Plym Valley first on the attack; an early penalty corner was awarded to the away side for a Tavistock foot in the D but this was saved well by keeper Viggers.

Tavistock were straight on the counter attack with Kelly passing to Armstrong who dragged the ball around the Plym Valley keeper, who then fouled Armstrong by throwing her stick and keeper glove into the path of the ball in front of goal. A penalty flick was awarded to Tavistock and Fenwick stepped up to open the scoring with a fine ball into the top left corner.

With the home team in front Plym Valley grew tense causing several infringements on the pitch; the umpire stopped play to speak to both captains and calm the game.

Undeterred, Tavistock used their quick passes through midfielders Payne, Kelly and Fenwick to keep possession of the ball and feed the attacking line of White, Law and Lamb. A ball to Armstrong saw her strike at goal with Lamb picking up the deflection and slicing the ball in to make it 2-0 to Tavistock.

Plym Valley made several strong counter attacks with long balls reaching their forward line. Langsford, Patterson, Pollock and Colston worked together to move the ball around the backline and out of danger.

Aware that their promotion could be in jeopardy, the second half started with Plym Valley on the attack. Keeper Viggers took control of the defence and made a strong save from a strike on goal.

The home side soon turned over possession and with clean linking passes from Colston, to Kelly, to Armstrong, she then drove the ball and laid it off to Law who took the ball wide of the keeper and struck on the reverse of her stick for 3-0 to Tavistock.

The home side now dominated the rest of the game by strong positioning and movement, cutting out any attacking attempts by Plym Valley.

A final push from Tavistock saw the ball move to attacker Lamb, who drove the ball across the D, drawing the keeper; she then laid the ball back for Armstrong, who pulled the ball onto the reverse and finished with a strong strike into the goal.

Tavistock ladies firsts are now sat third in the South division with five games remaining.