BARKING & DAGENHAM GIRLS MADE their annual trip across the Cotswolds to take on Gloucester, returning with an impressive 3-1 victory to keep up an excellent start to the season. After heavy defeats on their previous two visits, it was the ideal confidence builder ahead of their return to league action the following weekend.
On a congested pitch, chances were few and far between in the opening stages.
And when Barking & Dagenham did manage to find a way through, their opportunities owed much to the intelligence and trickery of Hunters Hall forward Nour Khalfaoui. First of all, Makayla Smith found space on the left when Khalfaoui split the Gloucester backline with a slide-rule ball. This time however Amy Garrigan was on hand to tip Smith’s fierce drive into the side netting.
Tested
Moments later, Khalfaoui picked out Millie Blythe on the right in identical fashion with Garrigan once more diving to deflect her goal-bound drive wide.
Gloucester were always dangerous on the break and – when the threat came – it was usually from belligerent midfielder Amelia Davies. In the sixteenth minute, Hannah Embery was tested in the visitors’ goal for the first time when Davies’ twenty-yard rasper caught everyone but Embery by surprise – the Valence keeper showing strong wrists to palm a sure opener over the bar.
Instead it was Barking & Dagenham who broke the deadlock as the tough-tackling Gabriella Gomes charged through on the break, drawing Garrigan off her line and firing into the roof of the net for her fifth district goal.
Doubled
And it was Gomes again who was in the thick of the action for Barking & Dagenham’s second when Blythe’s fierce cross-shot broke free in the six-yard box. Gomes was first to the bouncing ball, using her studs to force the ball past Garrigan towards the goal-line. The ball was heading in anyway but Khalfaoui stole in to make sure, doubling the lead shortly before half-time.
In between the goals, Davies once more brought out the best from Embery with another fierce hit that threatened to keep the hosts in the contest.
However it was Barking & Dagenham who continued to force the best chances with Pahris Cotterell twice playing in Blythe who was denied on each occasion by Garrigan’s alertness.
Confident
The next person to benefit from Cotterell’s passing prowess was Mariam Ngobo Azeez. First Rachel Babatunde won possession in her own half and strode confidently into midfield before finding Cotterell. A clipped ball in behind put Ngobo Azeez through but, having expertly rounding the keeper, she found herself too wide of the target to force the ball home.
Cotterell then stung the palms of Garrigan with a twenty-yard blast before eventually gaining reward for her hard work in the simplest of fashions. A quick throw-in from Alisha Johnson put her through one-on-one with the ball bouncing perfectly for a delicate lob over the onrushing keeper to stretch the lead to three.
With nothing to lose in the closing stages, Gloucester rejigged their line-up and threw bodies forward to salvage something from the game. With so many to mark, Barking & Dagenham struggled to stem the flow as the heavy pitch and long journey west began to take their toll.
Consolation
Fittingly, it was the dangerous Davies who earned her side a well-deserved consolation, driving into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. It was the first time Embery had been beaten in over two-hundred-and-sixty minutes of football stretching back almost twelve matches to early December.
Next up for the girls is a home London Girls’ League tie against Barnet. Victory will guarantee them top spot in their division and put them in strong contention as the title is decided in the second half of the campaign.
Barking & Dagenham: Babatunde (Richard Alibon); Embery, Blythe, Johnson (Valence); Gomes (St Joseph’s Dagenham); Ngobo Azeez (Godwin); Cotterell (Manor Longbridge); Khalfaoui (Hunters Hall); Smith (Henry Green)