Cambridgeshire Div 1 League - Ketton Ladies v Cardea Ladies

After two successful weeks away playing cup matches and no game last week, it was finally time for the Cardea ladies to get back to some league action with a tough fixture away at Ketton Ladies.

Anybody who has ever played at Ketton, will tell you how exposed it feels with the pitch at the top of a steep hill overlooking the village and after the recent rain it was always going to be hard work on a wet, heavy pitch.

With Cardea in their Red kit for a change, the game started on a bleak and damp afternoon with Ketton taking the kick from the whistle.
The first 10 minutes was like watching a game of tennis, with the ball being played from one end to the other, as both teams had an even share of the play and attacked each other’s defence.

The first real chance went to Ketton, who had seemed to settle first and attacked with a long ball down the right forcing the first corner from the Cardea defence. A good cross into the box bounced awkwardly causing confusion as both teams tussled to regain possession, luckily for Cardea it was eventually goalie Poppy who dived low, grabbing the ball to safety.

It would be another two minutes before Cardea would eventually make the first break through after a mix up in the Ketton defence. The ball had been played through the midfield by Cardea only to be collected by the tall Ketton centre half. After looking to release the ball with a quick sideways pass, the heavy wet pitch slowed the ball before it reached its target allowing Ruddy to intercept on the edge of the box before driving a low strike into the bottom corner of the net, 1-0 to Cardea.

Going behind, the Ketton team did not drop their heads, in fact the opposite as they took the game back to Cardea who were struggling to find their normal free flowing passing game. Each time they won the ball Ketton counter attacked at speed and forced another two quick corners as Cardea struggled to clear their box.

The game was becoming a real battle in all areas of the pitch with the strong Ketton team forcing Cardea to fight for every loose ball.
On 23 minutes Cardea saw their next real chance when Georgie turned the Ketton defence to create herself space to shoot but was unfortunate to only hit the side netting.

Again, Ketton counter attacked at speed and only 2 minutes later they won a free kick on the edge of the Cardea box and on this occasion, it would be the Cardea cross bar that would save the day.

The game continued in the same way with both teams attacking at pace, real end to end stuff. On 34 minutes it would be the Ketton defence again on the back foot. Helen collected the ball in the middle and pushed through to Georgie who with a quick flick set Pollard through onto goal, but her low shot was well saved by the Ketton keeper and the frustration on the Cardea faces was starting to show.

A break of play on 36 minutes as the Ketton goalie went down and eventually had to be replaced, allowed the Cardea players a few minutes respite from the intense play and a few words of advice from the dugout.

Two minutes later the replacement goalie would see her first action between the posts by picking the ball out of her own net. Pollard had collected the ball just outside of the 18-yard area and cut across the front of the Ketton box.
Listening to the instructions of their coach “not to do anything”, the wall of blue defenders didn`t and instead stood their ground in an attempt to prevent the Cardea number 7 cutting into the box.

With no obvious way forward, Pollard showed another `magical touch` as she pivoted just outside the 18-yard line and cleverly lobbed the defence and goalie into the far top corner to make it 2-0 for Cardea.
Again, from the kick Ketton attacked the Cardea defence who time and time again soaked up the pressure and tried to play the ball out to our wide players, Brooke and Mia, who had been effective down both flanks.

After more pressure from Ketton who finished the half strong, the Cardea players went into the break 2-0 up but knowing they had worked hard for the lead.
After a well-earned break it was Cardea who would have the first chance of the second spell when they forced the first corner. The ball was crossed low into the Ketton box where Pollard cheekily flicked it towards goal only to hit the Ketton cross bar. Had the goal itself not been leaning so far backwards, it may have been a different story.
Ketton continued where they had left off driving forward and forcing Cardea back with fast counter attacks and again continued to win corner after corner.

It would be 12 minutes into the second half that Cardea would see their next real chance, Olivia collected the ball from a Helen pass on the left wing and using her pace beat 3 Ketton players down the flank before crossing into the box, unfortunately her pace had also beat the Cardea attackers and there was nobody to get on the end of the cross on this occasion.

It would be on the 60-minute mark that Cardea would again make their first breakthrough of the second half. The ball was won in the midfield by Georgie who fed it through the Ketton defence to release pollard. After beating her defender Pollard squared the ball across goal towards Ruddy who was unmarked, perhaps too casually Ruddy tapped the ball towards goal only for the Ketton keeper to surprise her and everybody else with a good save, luckily the ball rebounded which gave Ruddy a second chance, this time she made no mistake and smashed the ball into the net 3-0.

The light may have been starting to fade, but the resilience of the Ketton attack did not and they continued to frustrate the Cardea team again with their strong battling and quick counter attacks.
After winning the ball in midfield, ketton again fed the ball through the Cardea defence causing confusion between defender Maisie and goalie Poppy who both went for the ball and had a nasty clash of heads. Whilst the Cardea players went down, the ball rolled into the Cardea net only for the goal to be ruled offside by the linesman.

Unfortunately for Cardea, both Maisie and Poppy were unable to continue, and it was a sad sight to see them both being helped from the field.

Ketton again pushed hard and would soon have a second goal ruled out by the linesman flag for another offside, this time following a quick free kick that found the Ketton striker alone just outside the 6-yard box to put it into the Cardea net.
It would be Cardea though who would have the final say on 88 minutes in this `hard day out on Ketton hill` with a typical display of passing football that we have become accustomed to seeing Cardea play.
Keleigh collected the ball in defence and once again found Brooke wide on the wing, a nice ball in field to Georgie allowed the busy midfielder to again feed the ball to Ruddy`s feet on the edge of the Ketton box who showed her own magical touch and completed her hat trick with an outstanding lob over the Ketton keeper into the top left-hand corner to make it 4-0 at the final whistle

This was a tough physical encounter with a determined Ketton side who never stopped fighting for every ball and caused Cardea some problems with their fast counter attacks. It was however a game that showed the Cardea team can mix it up and be just as physical in their own play, a game where again we had to be patient and take our chances when they came and one where every player gave 100% and dug in deep to bring home the 3 points and remain unbeaten in 4 games so far.

All in all, it was another good display from the Cardea ladies, but it really was `HARD WORK ON THE HILL ‘today.
Player of the match Laura.
Best wishes to Poppy and Maisie and fingers crossed for speedy recoveries.
Thank you to our hosts Ketton for a great game and best of luck for the rest of the season.