It's a cruel game

Aylesbury United Ladies lost their second very close game in a row but showed a good battling performance with some nice football.

Aylesbury's opponents, City Belles, started quickly and dominated early in the game but Aylesbury soon settled and the game looked like it was going to be very even. It was City Belles who took the lead after 16 minutes when confusion in the Aylesbury defence was pounced on by their striker. Aylesbury bounced back though and equalised ten minutes later after a good attacking move was finished off by Gemma Warner who took the ball along the goal before knocking it past the keeper. The rest of the half was fairly even with some good play from both teams, as well as some good defensive play, especially by Casey Toovey and player of the match Ann Whytewood in the centre of Aylesbury's defence. With just four minutes to go before half time Aylesbury took the lead when a back pass was unfortunately missed by the City Belles keeper.

The second half was very eventful! After ten minutes a clash between two players led to Aylesbury losing Sarah Norton-Cole with a nasty gash on her head leading to a trip to the A&E. Things were made worse for Aylesbury when their goalkeeper, Keri Clark, was sent off for preventing a goal scoring opportunity reducing them to 10 players which made all the difference. Just seven minutes later City Belles scored to make it 2-2. A few minutes later they lost a player to injury though and with no substitutes they were also reduced to 10 players making it a very even end to the game. However, in the 94th minute a 50-50 challenge was given the way of the away team who scored to snatch the win.

A second, undeserved defeat at the start of the season for Aylesbury but they should keep their chin up and things will turn round. A special thanks to the Buckinghamshire Yeoman for providing food after the game.