Match Report
The Girls’ Academy made it eight wins in eight after another five-star performance this week.
They travelled to Billericay, with word reaching the team that their opposition would be playing a majority of their premier division team.
But that didn’t stop the Darts girls from putting on another brilliant display to win 5-1 and stay top of the league.
The girls started brightly with a few early chances, but it was probably the most difficult start to a game they’d had as both teams tried to put their stamp on it.
That was until Izzy Edgar put in a corner that Olivia Ajose smashed in with a well-taken volley.
Straight from the kick-off, the opposition slotted a through ball that split the defence and fell to their striker, to make it 1-1.
The response was brilliant, with the Darts keeping possession well, winning their battles, creating chances and making sure their heads didn’t drop.
They used their width well and a second goal soon came, with Izzy Edgar forcing the keeper into a save for Isabella Taffs to poke in and score her 11th of the season.
A third would come before half-time. The Darts picked up the ball, putting through Izzy Edgar, who beat a player, putting it across the box for Olivia Ajose to put it past the keeper for her tenth of the season.
After half-time, the fitness and quality of the Darts Girls shone through, with two more goals to seal the win.
Aislyn Kelly had been out through injury, but started today and found herself on the edge of the box and scored through a great strike, while the fifth came through Lottie Kelk, who came on and put in a corner that went straight into the goal.
Manager George Kingdon said: “We had one of our players suspended and another drop out on the day with injury, so knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. Added to that, we had found out Billericay would be using some of the players from their Prem team, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect.
“But the girls had some good preparation before the game again and we made sure everyone knew their jobs. We have shown we can compete with players from the Prem division now and I thought we proved that again.
“The start of the match was uncomfortable, but we managed it well and came out the other side to put in a really positive performance. We created lots of chances and some patterns of play were excellent to watch. It’s really starting to click with them all.”
The Girls’ Academy have one more game before Christmas against Chatham next Wednesday. Time TBC.
