the final whistle....

Desolation Abbey – The final game - Keith Maple

In January 2013, Ray “Butch” Wilkins, MBE (84 caps for England , a star midfielder for Chelsea, Man Utd, AC Milan  and the first England player to be sent off in a World Cup finals game) officially unveiled £50,000 worth of equipment including mowers to Abbey Rangers as part of the Olympic legacy fund. On the evidence of the near knee high grass liberally spread with spring daises, there was no money left over for fuel to power the aforementioned mowers.

Our second visit of the year to the Thames water flood meadows was accompanied by strong winds and fields of desolation, usually only seen in documentaries about the impoverished North West of Britain.

Ten girls and Ed took to the field for our last game of the season with a strong wind in their faces and defending “the scrap yard end”.

Would our run of four games without a win continue or would there be one last flourish?

The girls quickly settled back into their familiar positions after last weeks’ flawed experiments.. The first quarter saw an even game with a much improved Rangers trying to break through the defence and Sophia providing a master class in how to prick the bubble of opposition supporters enthusiasm. A great run by the opposition winger is stopped by a whistle from another pitch……..maybe our luck is in.  Bella wins the ball, runs and forces the opposition into retreat. Ciara’s mazy dribble down the wing results in a corner which is whipped in by Elin, the ball is cleared, another corner and Lola is on hand to hit the ball into net.  GGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL “Left foot Lola, Left foot Lola “ fills the terraces.

Abbey step up a gear and attack after attack is thwarted by Hannah, Sarah, and Sophia. Kathryn commands her area, but the strong wind makes it difficult to kick the ball any distance. Finally, the pressure tells and from a corner the ball is not cleared and a wicked deflection spins the ball past our goalie. Tough luck, but “at least the wind is with us in the second half.

The sun peeps it’s head out and takes the wind with it.

The game is tight. We are on the attack and nearly getting caught on the counter. It is a difficult one to call, but then a quick throw from Kathryn and Issy nutmegs two players (I didn’t think there was that much of a gap between her legs , she was later to say), she then plays a great ball to Elin who runs through and forces the goalie to save. This inspires our team to change gear.  Alice, who has just come on in an unfamiliar midfield role, then does a beautiful weighted pass to Ciara who beats her girl and buries the ball into the net GGGOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL “Crafty Ciara”, the alliterative people sing. That’s our 50th league goal of the season.

We then really go for it, as corner after corner is swung in by Elin. We need an Andy Carroll, or even his brother Lewis, to put the corners away . The move of the match from a through ball to Elin who crosses and a galloping Lola just misses.  An inspired Alice misses with a half volley, Issy makes diverting runs , Sophia thwarts a three on one, Sarah is majestic, Ciara makes more runs and Kathryn makes a magnificent save and then kicks the ball three quarters of the way down the field. Everyone is getting on in the act.

The whistle blows before we can score more goals.  We have win number ten. A great performance by the team. Lola is girl of the match, Mick once again the linesperson of the match, Nick is still beaming and Abbey Rangers chips are voted best in the League.

It is now time to test ourselves in Europe. Ten wins, 33 points, fifty goals, games we should have won, getting better all of the time and a great team spirit.

Beware tulip people, we are coming!!!