Spalding Ladies 1s 2 Cambridge City 5 1
Spalding hit back from behind to take all the East Women’s League Division Two North West points in a tight encounter.
The hosts started strongly and passed the ball around, maintaining possession as they worked up the pitch.
They won a few short corners but failed to convert and were caught out when the visitors pressed well and caught Spalding out with the opening goal.
Spalding kept pushing and managed to get the ball to Ellie Holland who took a shot from the top of the D into the bottom corner of the net to make it 1-1 at the break.
After a positive team talk, Spalding entered the second half eager to score another goal. Cambridge were also pushing hard to regain the lead.
The hosts continued to maintain possession and pushed the opposition back into their own half.
A strong run from Georgina Maplethorpe through the midfield enabled a perfectly placed ball into the D for Amy Naylor to poke home the ball for the winning goal.
Spalding Ladies 2s 11 Newmarket 2s 1
Spalding were back in front of a supportive home crowd and showed no mercy to the Division Three North West’s bottom-placed club, romping to an impressive victory.
Spalding started brightly with Charlotte Maplethorpe creating a solo chance before a quick counter from Newmarket forced goalkeeper Freya Lee to make a fine save.
The first goal arrived in the 10th minute when Sam Maltby delivered a pinpoint pass to Maplethorpe and she opened her account with an unstoppable strike.
Goal two came from a short corner with a classic top D strike from Karen Timby.
The pressure continued for Newmarket with Zoe Moore securing another short corner and birthday girl Kelly Tizzano tapped home the ball from a deflection.
Minutes later player of the match Honor Moore was rewarded with a goal having received a strong ball through from Leanne Pick.
Despite the four-goal advantage, Newmarket were not giving Spalding an easy ride and were awarded their own penalty corner, which they scored decisively to make it 4-1 at half-time.
The second half saw Spalding calm their game and improved passing throughout the team led to a short corner being slotted home by Timby.
Some wonderful passing between Hennie Boekestyn, Tizzano and Maplethorpe resulted in a second goal for Maplethorpe.
An on-fire Timby completed her hat-trick with a top right-hand corner blast into the net.
Throughout the game Vicky Worrall launched some strong shots across the Newmarket defensive lines.
Hennie Boekestyn, having put herself in some strong supporting roles, was given her spotlight moment with a goal of her own.
Timby’s next strike took a deflection only to be picked up by a diving Maplethorpe to bring home her own hat-trick.
Sally Pilgrim returned to the pitch at left back and played much higher to give Boekestyn a beautiful pass that allowed her to turn and give scoring machine Maplethorpe strike number four.
Not to be left out of the party, Kelly Cooper picked up another of Timby’s deflections, matching the diving style earlier demonstrated by Maplethorpe for the 11th goal to celebrate her own birthday in style.
Spalding Ladies 3s scratched from their scheduled Division Four North West match at Cambridge South 5s and a 5-0 win was awarded to the hosts.
