Lancing are the only team to take points off league leaders Oakwood
Lancing 1 (Cobb 21)Oakwood 0
Talented-but-unpredictable Lancing turned party pooper, raining on Oakwood’s victory parade and delaying their title celebrations as they inflicted a first league defeat on the Crawley side.
Trevor Warren’s young team went into the match at Culver Road needing just a point against their closest rivals to seal the Sussex County Women’s League title in their first season as Oakwood and only their second campaign in adult football.
Lancing had been the only team to take any points off them at all this season, when they drew 3-3 at the same ground back in October.
But they had also been hammered 8-0 by the same opposition in December – and it was memories of that bleak day in Crawley that seemed to drive Lancing to new heights as they soaked up everything their rivals could throw at them, magnificently defending a first-half lead given to them thanks to the irrepressible Billie Jo Cobb.
The shock defeat will merely delay the inevitable as free-scoring Oakwood prepare to seal that title at Horsham Sparrows in two weeks’ time, but it left them trying to figure out how they could have lost a match that they dominated in terms of possession, but in which lost their mojo in front of goal.
They were without their talisman, Emma Green, who has not only scored 27 of their 102 goals in the league this season but must surely also have been responsible for a similar number through assists.
But the attacking midfielder’s absence alone was not the reason for their shock defeat – and their first blank in any game this season.
Lancing manager Ross Waddington got his tactics absolutely spot-on, but more to the point, his magnificent players, to a woman, played their roles in the masterplan to perfection and emerged with the victory, the points, but more importantly for their boss, their pride restored after that 8-0 humiliation.
Oakwood needed one point for the title but Lancing were gunning for revenge after losing 8-0 last time they played them
Oakwood slipped straight into their passing game and forced an early corner after Alice Horton found Chloe Chesworth, in for the absent Green, on the left wing.
The teenager’s cross was heading straight for 37-goal striker Jade Page before Hope Hawkins brilliantly intercepted to ensure Lancing conceded nothing more than a corner.
But while the visitors were enjoying the better of the possession in the opening exchanges, it was already clear that they were not going to have it all their own way.
Lancing’s passing was crisper than in their previous encounters with Oakwood; their defenders were not prepared to wait for their opponents to come to them, and in Cobb and her willing accomplice, Paris Akehurst, they had an outlet that posed a genuine threat to a defence that had conceded just five league goals in 12 matches.
The first effort on goal came after five minutes, when Lauren Tyler hit a hopeful free-kick from 35 yards straight to Lancing goalkeeper Stacey Johnson.
A minute later, it was Hawkins again to the rescue as Tyler very nearly found Page with a through-ball.
And Tyler was again at the centre of the action in the seventh minute when she volleyed straight at Johnson after Chloe Higham had laid the ball back to her following good work by Page and Ellie Killick-Bird.
The visitors won their second corner on eight minutes, thanks to Page’s tenacity, but it was assuredly cleared by Claire Katoroz – a notable absentee in the Lancing defence the last time they played Oakwood.
The Crawley side continued to dominate proceedings, with Jade Dancaster, Tyler and Chesworth piecing together a flowing move out of defence before they won their third corner after just 10 minutes.
Georgia Mockler met Higham’s kick, but her shot was blocked.
It was not until the 13th minute that Lancing won their first corner when Cobb and Akehurst combined well before the ball fell to Crystal Waite, whose shot was deflected behind.
Akehurst’s excellent corner kick was fired towards goal by Cobb, but Page, back helping in defence, blocked brilliantly.
Back came Oakwood. Alice Horton and Abi Knight exchanged passes before finding Tyler, who combined with Ellie Killick-Bird and then Page, whose low, angled shot was well saved by Johnson.
Page had another opportunity to add to her phenomenal goal tally on 16 minutes when Chesworth did well to get away down the left before pulling the ball back to the striker, whose first-time shot screwed well wide.
In the 20th minute, it was Ellie Killick-Bird’s turn to mishit her shot and the Lancing goal remained intact.
And moments later, the hosts were in front when Akehurst capitalised on a weak kick by goalkeeper Beckie Kirkham and crossed for Cobb, who squeezed between two defenders to score from close range.
Despite all the Oakwood pressure, the goal was not entirely undeserved, as their defence had largely shackled the opposition strikers and their midfield stood steadfast against the wave of attacks from deep. All the while, Oakwood’s classy back three had to be on alert against the pace and determination of Akehurst and Cobb.
The goal did not have much impact on the shape of the game. Oakwood came straight back at Lancing, Page’s volley on the turn comfortably taken by Johnson before they earned their fourth corner in the 28th minute, which again came to nothing.
They had another chance four minutes later, when they won a free-kick near the touchline following a foul by Katoroz on Page. Knight brilliantly picked out Page with her kick, but she headed wide.
Akehurst, who had been given a brief rest as both sides made full use of rolling substitutes, returned to the fray on 35 minutes, but neither she nor Kelly Humphrey, who had taken her place alongside Cobb, were getting much quality ball as Oakwood notched up the pressure to a new level.
Ellie Killick-Bird’s tremendous turn inside the Lancing area took out two defenders, but once again, Hawkins blocked her effort, and then Oakwood went even closer in the 38th minute from a free-kick.
Holly Marsh halted Chesworth’s fine run illegally, and from a good 30 yards, Tayla Hill struck the bar with a superb kick that for once had Johnson beaten.
Cobb had a rare chance to extend Lancing’s lead after again capitalising on a weak kick by Kirkham, but her shot, off-balance, went wide.
It was to be the last meaningful Lancing effort of the half as Oakwood turned up the heat even more to finish the opening period with a flourish.
On 42 minutes, Knight made a brilliant run down the right, riding two tackles before crossing, but Hill volleyed just over.
Great interplay down the right between Knight and Chesworth again carved Lancing open, but the hosts managed to stand firm.
And then Higham fired inches over after a similar flowing move down the opposite flank involving Dancaster, Ellie Killick-Bird, Hill and Killick-Bird again.
But the Lancing goal remained unblemished and Waddington’s team went in at half-time still in front – giving his opposite number, Trevor Warren, a new conundrum to solve – how to come from behind.
Half-time: Lancing 1-0 Lancing
It was a fair bet that Waddington’s interval pep-talk would encourage his players to continue as they had, and it was no surprise that their defence was reinforced still further when they re-emerged for the second half.
Yet Oakwood still won a corner within 30 seconds of the restart after good work by Chesworth.
However, if ever they wanted evidence that their luck was out, it came as Ellie Killick-Bird, such an influential performer in the first half, appeared to injure herself as she vaulted the railings to retrieve the ball before taking the flag-kick.
She was to take no further part in proceedings, and while Oakwood had plenty of quality in reserve, she was to be sorely missed.
The visitors continued to lay siege to the Lancing goal, and the one-touch passing that had surfaced only sporadically in the first half started to become a more common sight – interplay between Chesworth and Higham down the left a particularly fine example, with the latter showing the most exquisite of touches to set her team-mate free.
They won yet another corner on 50 minutes when Katoroz brilliantly blocked Page’s attempt after Johnson had parried Hill’s snapshot.
On a rare break, the speed of Sarah Killick-Bird, the Oakwood captain, denied Akehurst as she attempted to latch on to a superb pass.
Then Dancaster made a double stop to deny Cobb and Akehurst.
But it was Lancing’s goalkeeper who was emerging as the real hero, and on 56 minutes she denied Page in a one-on-one after the striker had superbly taken two players out of the game with a wonderful turn following another terrific pass from Knight.
Just after the hour mark, Cobb summoned up the energy to unleash another snapshot after freeing herself from Sarah Killick-Bird, to which Kirkham was equal.
Moments later, Oakwood threatened once more. Higham played a magnificent cross-field pass to Alice Horton, who sent over a good cross from the right, but once again Hawkins came to the rescue with a headed clearance.
It was the signal for the energetic Cobb to take a rest as Humphrey returned to the fray.
Inevitably, the striker wasn’t going to be seeing too much of the ball, though, as Oakwood continued their assault on the Lancing goal.
Higham headed Page’s cross wide, then Mockler’s shot on the turn went agonisingly wide as it began to dawn on everyone that perhaps, for once, things were not going to go Oakwood’s way.
In the 69th minute Knight won a 50-50 challenge in midfield before embarking on a marvellous run, beating three players before firing just over.
With 20 minutes remaining, Cobb returned to the action, but she was as much a spectator as her predecessor up front as Dancaster and Chesworth, this time down the right flank, wove more magical patterns, but Dancaster’s cross flew into the side-netting.
On 74 minutes Tyler tried her luck from 20 yards, but it was a comfortable catch for Johnson, and moments later Mockler had a go from similar distance, with the same result.
On 76 minutes, a combination of goalkeeping skills and the woodwork again thwarted Oakwood. Hill’s free-kick from best part of 25 yards was going in before Johnson somehow got her fingertips to it and pushed it on to the bar before gathering the rebound on the ground.
Time was running out, but Oakwood refused to panic, continuing to play their passing game, but Lancing, their defence reinforced, stood firm, each player repelling the Crawley invaders in turn.
Ten minutes from time Page shot just wide with only the goalkeeper to beat after Higham had chested the ball down to her.
Akehurst, like Cobb, had covered nearly every blade of the artifical grass, and was more or less dead on her feet. But she somehow summoned up the energy to play a glorious ball down the line to Cobb but did not quite have enough left to reach the striker’s cross into the box.
With the 90 minutes up, Lancing almost put the game out of Oakwood’s reach as Cobb outmuscled Dancaster and fired in a shot that Kirkham appeared to turn around the post, although a goal-kick was given.
One final innocuous long-range shot along the ground from Hill summed up Oakwood’s day and Lancing clung on for a famous victory that keeps the county league season alive for at least – but probably only – another fortnight.
VerdictIf matches were decided on statistics, Oakwood would have been home and dry by half-time. But this was no smash-and-grab raid. Admittedly, Lancing’s clear-cut chances were few and far between, but in Akehurst and Cobb, they possessed a genuine goal threat, and I have never seen Oakwood’s much-vaunted defence as shaky as it was at times during this game.
Behind those front two, was a group of players working for each other and for the team, blocking, tackling and throwing bodies in the way every time their highly rated opponents attacked – which was frequently.
And further back still was Stacey Johnson, a goalkeeper at the top of her game, who stopped everything that came her way.
For all that, on another day Oakwood could have had six, but while they never gave up, their crisp, clean passing game was evident only sporadically – and their finishing was not typical of a team that has scored more than 100 goals in a dozen league games.
Still, they have two more games in which to grab that elusive point that will clinch the title and guarantee their promotion to the South East Counties Women’s Football League.
ReactionRoss Waddington (Lancing): “Luck was on our side today”
“After the last performance [against Oakwood] we really had to put the record straight. Win, lose or draw, we couldn’t perform like we did last time.
“That’s the third or fourth time we’ve played them and the third or fourth different system we’ve deployed.
“They’re a very good team. They’re a fantastic team, actually. All credit to them. Luck was on our side a bit today, and we took our chance. When it came, we took it.
“It’s unusual for us to play like that. It’s not our normal style of play. We worked hard in training all through the week to play like that today.
“After the last game we lost [against Oakwood], this was just [for] pride. The league’s gone. We know that. That was a performance of pride, really.
“They’re the best team in the league and they’re worthy of that.
“I couldn’t single anybody out. Everybody was outstanding. Everyone did their job.. What we’d worked on in training, they all kept to plan.”
Trevor Warren (Oakwood): “We could have played until Easter and wouldn’t have scored”
“It’s always hard to take when you lose, and it’s always harder to take when for about 80% of the game you’re the better team.
“But they got their tactics right. At half-time, it was obvious that they decided that they were going to sit [with] five at the back, soak it up and make it difficult for Jade [Page] to get any space. We realised that, and we were giving the ball away too cheaply.
“At half-time we said, short and sharp [passing], keep the ball, work your way up the pitch together and stop trying to play long, match-winning passes and giving them the ball.
“[Lancing] came out to get the ball deep and bypass our midfield… it was a tactic that we picked up on during the first half, and we had to combat that in the second half by shortening it up – sharp, short passes and working with a bit more patience.
“They got their tactics right today, but as I’ve just said to [his players], don’t be disappointed with the performance because if you play like that against any other team – even this one – we’d win on any other day. We could have played that game until Easter and we wouldn’t have scored.
“We’ll have to wait [to seal the title] a couple of weeks until the Horsham game.”
Paris Akehurst and Abi Knight were two of the game’s most impressive performers
Sent Her Forward player of the match: Stacey Johnson (Lancing)I changed my mind about half a dozen times during the game, such was the quality of performance on both sides. Billie Jo Cobb not only got the winner but ran her heart out for the team, as did Paris Akehurst alongside her.
Hope Hawkins was a rock in defence, quite outstanding. And Claire Katoroz, alongside her, showed what her team-mates had been missing when they lost heavily without her the last time they faced Oakwood.
But Johnson made a host of outstanding saves – including two crucial ones from Jade Page and Tayla Hill – to keep out the goal-crazy opposition, who drew a blank for the first time this season.
Quite simply, Johnson was the difference between defeat and victory for Lancing today.
My notebook is full of significant contributions from the losing side. Probably the pick of a very fine bunch today was Abi Knight, who was absolutely magnificent, both in defence and farther forward. Ellie Killick-Bird was a constant threat in the first half, and her injury within seconds of the restart probably cost Oakwood dearly.
Chloe Higham once again proved what a terrific player she is, with a maturity way beyond her years. Jade Dancaster, Alice Horton, Lauren Tyler and Tayla Hill also impressed.
Sent Her Forward match rating: 8/10 A hard-fought game with total commitment and an abundance of skill.
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