Actonians 1 - London Seaward 3

Sunday 20th August was a date we had all been awaiting for a while in anticipation of the FAWNL 2023/24 campaign beginning. What many hadn’t anticipated was the potential of the date clashing with our national team playing in a World Cup final but that’s exactly what happened. England, after seeing off the host nation Australia in the semifinals, reached the final where they would face Spain at 11am in British time. With the potential of club’s staff, players and supporters having to choose between club and country many games were postponed. However London Seaward vs Actonians was one of only three games to go ahead in the FAWNL Division 1 Southeast, albeit at the slightly later kick of time of 3pm.

London Seaward and Actonians were no strangers to each other after meeting in consecutive weeks at the back end of 2022-23 with both teams chasing 3rd place. Firstly a 2-2 draw at Rectory park which saw Ale and Sophie’s goals give Actonians a two goal lead before Seaward scored twice in the last quarter of an hour to earn a draw. Then a week later at Wadham Lodge Natsumi gave Actonians a 55th minute lead before it became a story of the super subs. Shakes and Sam coming off the bench to get goals either side of a Seaward reply to give Actonians the 3-1 win. A victory that would ultimately see them win that battle for 3rd place.

Today was Harry Berkeley’s first game in charge as Actonians visited London Seaward at their new home, Oakside Stadium. The Actonians squad was very thin on the ground with only one available outfield player, Sarah Coomson, on the bench. Meila D’Santos captained the side which saw competitive debuts for Isi Meade, Olivia Clement and Amber Dredge. Elisa Dagar after a superb couple of seasons in goal for the reserves made the step up to the firsts and Justine Buckmire-Monro was welcomed back to the side after missing all of last season as she recovered from a long-term injury. These six were joined by 2022-23 regulars Jess Drage, Chi Ebine, Jas Williamson, Jennie Brereton and Maria Ledezma-Viso. Also on the bench was Amber Taylor who played against us for Chesham United last season.

In today’s match London Seaward took an early lead with Sam Lanza scoring in the 7th minute. Although Seaward knocked on the door to increase their advantage the Actonians defence was resilient in minimising their chances to make it happen. Unfortunately Actonians weren’t able to hold out for the whole half though as in the 42nd minute Sam Lanza beat the Actonians backline and lobbed the ball over Elisa for hers and Seaward’s second of the game. Sam Lanza went close again a minute later but Seaward were unable to increase their 2 goal advantage before the break. Half-time 2-0.

Actonians came out more on the front foot as the second half began and got their chance to get back into the game, being awarded a 50th minute penalty. Maria converted to half the deficit. Right-back Chi found herself the furthest forward a couple of minutes later but her shot hit the side netting. Then on 55 minutes Seaward responded and regained their 2 goal advantage. Sophie Lee finding the net this time. With just over an hour gone Actonians made their substitution with Sarah replacing Justine. For the last 30 minutes Actonians battled to try and get something from the game. Maria worked very hard across the front line, chasing everything down she possibly could and a few corners were won which unfortunately came to nothing. As the game drew to a close Seaward looked the lot less tired of the 2 sides and with a larger squad on the day were able to make 5 changes in the last 10 minutes as they saw the game out. Full time 3-1 to London Seaward.

A tough opening day of the season but some positives to take forward. The three debutants got their first 90 minutes under their belts, including Olivia Clement who won the opposition player of the match so extra congratulations to her. Really great to see Justine play some competitive minutes again and also good to see Jennie battling hard in midfield, not the position we’re used to seeing her play. We have the return of players such as Naomi, Shakes, Sophia and Molly as well as the debuts of some of our other new signings to look forward to. Next week our attention turns to the League Cup as Swindon Town visit us for our Determining Round tie in our first home game of the season.

Report by Neil Hayward
Photo by James Doe