Reserves 2 - 4 Whyteleafe

The ressies played at home for the third Sunday in a row today with Whyteleafe the visitors to Gunnersbury Park. A familiar back four in the starting lineup but some notable absentees further up the pitch including Tash, Rosie and Jen.

It was clear from the word “go” that Whyteleafe’s biggest threat was their attacking pace and they got behind the Actonians back line a few times in the opening minutes with Amber making no less than three saves. Actonians came into the game and showed they could also offer attacking threats. Katy having three shots of her own saved in the first 20 minutes saved and Calli also having a shot blocked. Actonians went so close to taking the lead in the 21st minute. Molly’s shot crashed against the underside of the bar but somehow bounced out the wrong side of the line. A few minutes later the Whyteleafe attacker went through on a one-on-one and this time there was nothing Amber could do about the end product. 1-0 to Whyteleafe. Charlotte went close after some good work from Katy in the 27th minute but on the half hour mark Whyteleafe doubled their lead. In the final quarter of an hour of the first period Whyteleafe continued to threaten and Amber made a couple more good saves but Actonians finished the half the stronger. Ale having a shot saved in the 44th minute and Calli seeing her effort seconds before the refs whistle go over the bar. Half-time 0-2.

Work to do for Actonians in the second half and the task became even greater just 3 minutes after the break with Whyteleafe scoring a third. Katy had another shot saved in the 51st minute as Actonians continued to press and finally got a goal back in the 56th minute. Ale sent her free kick into the danger area with a defender getting the final touch. Shadia went close in the 65th minute from a seemingly impossible angle but her effort was tipped away by the outstretched keeper. Actonians did score again in the 69th minute. A superb free kick from long range by Kate found the top corner giving the keeper no chance. Actonians went close to getting the equaliser with Katy having yet another shot saved in the 71st minute and the keeper saving Ale’s shot excellently in the 78th minute. Actonians were dealt a sucker punch in the 82nd minute with Whyteleafe restoring their two-goal lead. The game had turned a little ugly at this point. A couple of unnecessary late challenges from two of the Whyteleafe players and to add to Actonians frustrations they took as long as possible with their substitutions as they were seeing the game out. In the 84th minute Ale had a shot tipped away and Kate fired a shot over the bar. Katy had yet another shot saved in added time but the scoreline was not added to. Full time 2-4.

Two evenly matched sides for a lot of the game but Whyteleafe made their pace up front count to win the game. Both goalkeepers deserve a special mention as the score would have been a lot higher if it had not been for the amount of excellent saves at each end. My player of the match today was Chelsea. It was a very physical game but she showed a lot of strength with everything that came her way. As we go into the Christmas break the ressies have 4 weeks now to wait for their next fixture when Crawley visit Gunnersbury Park for a cup tie.

Report by Neil Hayward