Today saw a Chelsea PGA side visit North Greenford to face Actonians in the second round of the league cup group stage. Both sides won their first games so it was an opportunity for one of them to gain daylight at the top. Ollie made a number of changes this afternoon with the majority of Actonians bench being full of regular starters.

The home side made a strong start. Mollie had a shot with less than 2 minutes on the clock that went wide. In the 4th minute Mara sent a free kick towards the box and Mollie made no mistake this time firing her shot home to give Actonians an early lead.

It would be fair to say possession was pretty much equal for a while from this point but Aswa had a shot saved in the 16th minute. Mollie went close with a 29th minute free kick as Actonians gained some momentum but Chelsea managed to score an equaliser after 36 minutes from long range. They only managed to keep the score level for 6 minutes though when Mollie crossed the ball to Claudia who confidently slotted her shot home. Half time 2-1.

9 minutes into the second half Kat made a superb challenge to prevent Chelsea having a clear scoring chance and straight after that Ollie made the first change bringing Abigail on to replace Mollie.
Elisa made a superb save from a Chelsea free kick in the 57th minute and then up the other end in the 64th minute Claudia was so close to getting on the end of a Mara free kick. Two more changes were made with Kayra and Emma replacing Naomi and Claudia. Kayra was in the action straightaway having a 71st minute free kick saved. With 15 minutes of normal time remaining Olianna came on to replace Nour then in the 77th minute Mara went close to extending the lead when her header smashed against the crossbar. Shots from Emma and Jas shortly after were close to hitting the target. A final change was made in the 82nd minute when Lois replaced Roxanne. Chelsea pushed forward in search for an equaliser and even hit the bar themselves in the 85th minute. Apart from that the Actonians back line remained resilient and even saw the game out with 10 players after Olianna went off with a head injury. Kat also made another very important challenge to deny Chelsea. Full time 2-1.

A brilliant victory for Actonians and an amazing effort throughout the whole team which sees us firmly placed at the top of the League Cup table ahead of non less than a Chelsea side and AFC Wimbledon who play in the league above and who we will face in the last round of games. Mollie deserves a special mention for her goal and assist. In fact all 16 players involved deserve a lot of credit but my choice for today’s player of the match is Kat. Did not put a foot wrong at the back and saved us a couple of times with some last ditch challenges.

The first team are back to league action next Sunday and have another home game with MK Dons being the next visitors to North Greenford.

By Neil Hayward