Letchworth Eagles (2) v Woburn & Wavendon (7)

Eagles started the season with a fixture against Woburn & Wavendon. Both teams brought energy
as the match got underway on a humid Sunday at Pixmore, Woburn looking dangerous with an
early shot saved easily by Emily, followed up a few minutes later when they flipped the ball over
the back, saved again masterfully by Emily. Letchworth responded with Eireann pressing up the
pitch from defence to send a shot at the Woburn keeper.
Woburn kept the pressure up, retaliating with another shot at the Letchworth goal, following up
with another blistering shot forcing a second save which prompted the Woburn linesman to ask
“when did you borrow England’s keeper?”.
Eagles rallied, driving up the left wing. Confusion occurred as Letchworth weren’t initially flagged
offside, Lauren collected the ball and fired a shot at the Woburn goal which the keeper fumbled
and Daisy tapped in. Early celebrations were cut short as the ref consulted and ruled the goal
offside.
After the chaos, Woburn came back strong. Great cover and pressure from Daisy resulted in a
shot that Emily scooped up easily.
The ping pong of possession continued, with Jorja delivering a great run up the right wing,
intercepted by Woburn who returned looking dangerous with a shot just outside the box that
forced another wonder save from Emily.
Letchworth brought on Emily K for her Eagles debut. Letchworth’s defence worked hard to close
down the danger from Woburn, Tayla being a commanding presence at the back, closing out
attacks to support the midfield.
Strong defensive play delivered the ball to Ira, whose skilful footwork beat the Woburn lines,
weaving through them to send a shot and force a save from the keeper. Bailey picked up another
loose ball, working across the pitch, only to be taken out and sent flying by an aggressive body
check from Woburn.
A free kick given Woburn’s way devastated Letchworth’s defence, with messy work after a shot in
the box seeing Amy taken down and out of the game with a hamstring injury.
As the game got more physical and the players struggled with the humidity Letchworth received a
yellow and a 10 minute sin bin. Letchworth played briefly with 9 before bringing on Maddie.
Woburn were able to capitalise on Letchworth’s lower numbers, scoring after a corner at 34
minutes.
Finding a gap in the midfield, with Ruby battling to get back and being taken down in the box,
Woburn flipped the ball over Emily to score a second three minutes after their first, with Ruby still
down and appeals to the referee dismissed.
Millie came on at the end of the sin bin to plug midfield gaps and support the Eagles’ defence and
bring the teams up to level numbers.
Another Woburn shot just before half time was followed by more physical play in the Letchworth
box, with Tayla taken down suffering a nasty scrape to her leg.
After a tough half time talk, Letchworth battled back, Daisy delivering a solid free kick which
Maddie got a nice toe on the end to score and pull a goal back for Letchworth 3 minutes into the
half.
Ira demonstrated great play out from the back, keeping composure to find Tayla, finding space to
receive the ball back and play it into Maisie unmarked in midfield who fed the ball to Lauren who
delivered a solid strike from outside the box, finding the back of the net to equalise at the 51st.
With the scores tied, Woburn came back hard, consistently dominating and capitalising on their
physicality, the defence worked overtime, pressing forward only to have to sprint back.
Letchworth didn’t get enough players behind the ball, and Woburn exploited this, scoring their
third at 67.
Soon after as Letchworth tried to play out from Tayla, Lauren was forced off the ball, Woburn
scoring their fourth. A fifth came as a long ball was lobbed to an unmarked player hovering by the
box who got a shot past Emily in the 79th.
Letchworth were constantly penned in to the final third, Woburn dominating and controlling play,
switching and shuffling the ball. Elizabeth spotted a long pass out too late to intercept allowing
another lob over the squad for another poached Woburn goal taking the game to 6-2 in Woburn’s
favour with 3 minutes to go.
Poor shape following a throw and the Eagles out of position saw Woburn claim their seventh in
the 90th minute.
This was a tough game for the Eagles. Despite the score, there was some excellent play from our
players that we can build on in the season, and Emily was deservedly awarded player of the
match for her solid shift in goal delivering stunning saves.
We wish Woburn well for the season, and the squad will bounce back and rally ahead of next
week’s game against Harpenden. We’re grateful to our player sponsors, Leysbrook Estate Agents,
Clean Kept Yard, Hertfordshire Roofing Services, Pier Contractors, PHP Services, and Cllr Alistair
Willoughby whose generous support allows us to pay linesmen and cover team refreshments,
keeping women’s football at Letchworth free to play.