MATCH REPORT

 Long Sutton Ladies 1st team tame the League leaders!
  
This top v third placed clash in quality terms was worthy of any promotion battle and with Long Sutton ladies 1sts winning a valuable well deserved point. Lets deal with the statistics first; Long Sutton arrived knowing they would need to score and more than once to get anything from this fixture and given Letchworth had scored 63 league goals ahead of this match -  averaging more than four goals a game. The last time these two sides met at Sutton the teams scored five goals with Letchworth edging it 3-2. So betting on a nil nil draw would not have been wise or even a low scoring draw. Another stat; how often would two teams share six goals and all from a different scorer? and how often would six goals in the same game all compete for goal of the month on match of the day! So stats over lets cover the game.
 
Long Sutton were quickly on the back foot as Letchworth came out sharply but failed to convert early chances and despite winning several short corners and from one of which at 11 minutes into the game Sutton counter attacked; Sarah Walker running at the short corner attack broke the threat down to find Charlie Leuty who sent a pass to Leanne Woodhead who smartly flicked the ball into the path of Lisa Baker who from the half way line sprinted (yup sprinted) controlling the ball and attentive Letchworth defenders to great effect then firing a fantastic cross from right to left in the step of Jess Hudson who from eight meters out took the pass in one move and fired home with the next giving Sutton a breakaway lead - good goal! Letchworth continued to look dangerous through dominant spells but Sutton posed the threat on the break. However it would be Letchworth to equalise from a smart short corner. The ball was injected to Loren Christian who switched the ball to the path of Leonie Bannister who fired home an unstoppable shot for 1-1. Would Sutton lay down - no chance! and two great goals from Walker then Baker before half time ensured that Long Sutton went into the break three goals to one up somewhat stunning the league leaders.
 
The second half saw Letchworth play to their full potential and this was to give Long Sutton a lot of pressure following  smart movement and passing Letchworth threatened and in short order they pulled one back through Charlie White and then equalised for the second time in the game through their top scorer and main strike threat being Loren Christian who had been kept quite by Gemma Parr and Walker before getting loose to clip the ball nicely over Lorraine Wallis for 3-3. It now looked a long time for Sutton to hold out not least with the visitors only having 11 players available on the day due to last minute illness and with such an intensive game inevitably the strain was showing. And like in the first half the short corner count was mounting massively in Letchworth's favour, however the run outs of Walker and Sally Cade made it near impossible for Letchworth to get their shots away and if they did then Tania White and Parr were on hand to clear things up otherwise Wallis in the Sutton goal was all over it to keep Letchworth out. For Long Sutton they kept working hard and still benefiting from break away attempts one of which saw Louise Southgate beat the Letchworth keeper to a one on one but to be foiled by excellent defending  from the home sides Laura Dobson who scrambled the goal bound ball away and to safety. For Sutton Leuty, Walker and Southgate worked tirelessly in midfield and with Baker, Woodhead and young Jeorgia Carr putting in massive shifts to help defend but to be available at the front to keep Letchworth thinking. As the clock ticked on Letchworth forced themselves into a goal scoring position which was managed out but the umpire picked up an infringement and awarded the home side a lifeline in a penalty flick - what drama to end with... but.....  Wallis versus Christian and Wallis won as Christian knowing she had to be very good and accurate to beat the Sutton keeper bottled it with her flick going wide and much to Suttons delight. Player of the match was the young and highly talented Carr. Well played Long Sutton Ladies 1sts and a great team performance.

Report by Martin Hudson.