St Albans 0-2 Barking & Dagenham
SOUTHERN COUNTIES CUP and Essex 7-a-side winners, Barking & Dagenham, remain on course for an unprecedented treble thanks to a gritty 2-0 away victory in the London Girls’ League against St Albans. On the occasion of skipper Ellie Mai Morgan’s 50th district U11s appearance, the borough representative side stretched their unbeaten run in the competition to sixteen games thanks to second half goals from Miquellah Meade and Kayla Grain.
It was the hosts who made the early running though as possession was squandered too easily in midfield straight from kick-off, with the visiting defence cut open with ease. Mei Wang was on hand though to save in desperate fashion at the start of a sustained period of pressure for St Albans.
Ferocity
At that point, it looked like there would only be one winner and that Barking & Dagenham would succumb to the ferocity of the home forward line.
But, bit by bit, the visitors eked their way back into the match, with Meade’s forward runs jabbing like a boxer at the body of the St Albans rear-guard.
On nine minutes, she punched from the halfway line, ducking a brace of challenges before firing wide.
Moments later, another run from Meade resulted in skipper Morgan pulling a shot wide when well-placed just after Lily-Mae Elsey’s effort deflected wide.
The other main threat for Barking & Dagenham came from the pinpoint delivery of Kaltrina Ibrahimi’s set-pieces. After a few early sighters, she eventually found her range – first centring for a flying Meade to head over before hitting the bar herself direct from a corner.
Swooped
With half-time approaching, Grain’s through-ball picked out Meade once again only for her drilled effort to be turned out for a corner.
Ibrahimi’s subsequent delivery was fierce and direct as Grain swooped in unmarked to nod narrowly over the bar from the edge of the box.
After the interval, Violette Sharpe’s link-up lay resulted in another chance for Meade, only for her effort to be saved bravely at point blank range by the home keeper.
And when Elsey’s volley from Ibrahimi’s latest corner fell just wide, it looked like it just might not be Barking & Dagenham’s day.
Almost Impossible
Meade’s belligerence eventually paid off though when she eventually found the decisive blow. Intercepting a clearance inside her own half, she skipped her way through midfield, twisting and turning past three defenders before being forced out wide to the right edge of the penalty area with the end of the pitch fast approaching. This time her cross-shot fizzed across goal, finding the opposite corner from an almost impossible angle.
With St Albans on the ropes, Barking & Dagenham pressed on, sensing another opportunity would come for the knockout blow. Sure enough, it was an Ibrahimi corner that prompted it as a wicked in-swinger dropped into the box to be converted by Grain’s deflected left-foot strike.
Chances
For the final fifteen minutes, Barking & Dagenham managed the game expertly, crafting further chances in a bid to extend their lead. Kirsten McNaughton, Ibrahimi, Elsey, Sharpe, Meade and Morgan all had opportunities to add to the scoreline, with Wang a spectator at the other end.
It was an accomplished display for Barking Dagenham who lost two of their starting line-up on the morning of the game through illness and injury. The reshuffled pack dug deep however, with a special mention to Kayla Grain who sacrificed her usual midfield berth to fill in at left-back, gaining a well-deserved eleventh district goal in the process.
Barking & Dagenham: Mei Wang (Henry Green); Miquellah Meade (Henry Green); Kirsten McNaughton (George Carey); Ellie Mai Morgan (Henry Green); Violette Sharpe (Gascoigne); Kayla Grain (Richard Alibon); Lily-Mae Elsey (Northbury); Kaltrina Ibrahimi (William Ford)