Actonians 0 - 3 AFC Wimbledon

Back to Rectory Park today as Actonians welcome league leaders AFC Wimbledon. It was a debut for Keishia and returns for Jennie and Meila. Club captain Jess was not available today so Isi took over as skipper.

As early as the 2nd minute Maria made a run into the Wimbledon box but the defence got back to clear their lines and in the 8th minute Jennie made a strong run down the same side but the keeper collected her cross. Maria was bought down when she ran at the Wimbledon defence in the 13th minute. A challenge that left her in a lot of pain and required a 5 minute stoppage before she was helped to the sidelines. The subsequent free kick taken by Meila was collected by the goalkeeper. Straight after that Amber Dredge was brought on to replace Maria who was unable to continue. Wishing her a speedy recovery. Meila took another free kick 4 minutes later which the keeper caught. A lot of the first half saw both sides cancelling each other out with a lot of the play being in the Wimbledon half. Camila had a shot blocked in the 36th minute but apart from that there was nothing else to really write about from either side in the first period. Half-time 0-0.

The second half began in pretty much the same manner until Actonians created something in the 63rd minute. A great pass from Camila sent Amber through towards goal but the keeper only just managed to get to the ball first. Then in the 71st minute a debatable free kick was award to Wimbledon from far out which Ashlee Hincks was able to fire home to give them the lead. Actonians still continued to hold their own while neither side created too many clear cut chances. Mara saw her 85th minute free kick go over the bar with Ale replacing Amber and Shakes replacing Olivia either side of that. Mara had another shot saved in normal time but in injury time the game was well and truly lost. In the 93rd minute it was Hincks again who doubled the Wimbledon lead and in the 95th minute bagged her hat trick following a defensive error. Actonians did find the net in the 97th minute when Ale passed to Shakes for her to finish but offside was the decision. Final score 0-3.

A very harsh scoreline after Actonians more than matched Wimbledon for long periods of the game with a solid defensive performance for 90 minutes. Wimbledon are clear favourites for the title and how we did match them is the positive to take away today. Isi was the player of the match. A very strong performance at left back not being beaten at all by the attack and offering threats going forward too. As things stand this was our last scheduled home league game for 2023 but we do have London City Lionesses U21s visiting Rectory Park in two weeks time for a cup game.

Report by Neil Hayward