Crostyx Ladies Seconds conceded a late goal to lose 1-0 at home to Chelmsford Thirds.

The game looked destined to end in a draw before Chelmsford grabbed a winner with the last play of the game.

The twos arrived in Chelmsford in high spirits after a refreshing Christmas break and a positive opening training session to begin the New Year. All the girls were ready for action and hoping for win against a very evenly matched team.

Crostyx started strong using the low afternoon sun to our advantage in picking what end of the pitch we wanted. After some brilliant defensive skills from Antonia Fryer-Green, Hadley Chick and Juliet Drake, the ball was shipped out and expertly passed through the midfield, with a strong as ever Carla Preston leading by example, giving the forwards some great opportunities near the opposition goal.

All the hard work in the first 15minutes paid off and resulted in our first and only short corner of the game. Up stepped Liberty Morell to expertly inject the ball ready for a stop and smash by Jo Fryer-Green. Unfortunately the water logged pitch got the better of Crostyx and the ball spun away in the wrong direction.

After a hard fought match played the length and width of the whole pitch, we were sure we could at least hold a draw, then came the last play of the match. The opposition awarded a short corner in the last play of the game.

As the ball was injected, the Crostyx team at the half way line ran faster than they ever ran before, the ball was fumbled but not cleared, and as if in slow motion, our super goalie Amy McAuliffe in goal had her view obstructed the ball slid past into the back of the goal.
The final whistle was blown in the middle of Chelmsford celebration but we held our heads high knowing we played our hardest, and more importantly, as a team.

This weeks well deserved man of the match was super goalie Amy McAuliffe for her incredible goal keeping skills, launching herself across the goal to prevent the other team scoring as well as her constant encouragement from the goal line, lifting the team spirit. Honourable mention has to go to Hadley Chick for her dedication on and off the pitch with an epic performance in defence.