2nd Team Victorious Against St Andrews 1s

Wednesday 14th saw our 2nd Team travel up to St Andrews in a Scottish League 1A fixture. Having lost 2-1 at home in the previous fixture, the 2s went up with a point to prove and put everything on the line to grab all three points and bring them home.

The game started very evenly as both teams began to get a feel for one another and build into the game, and throughout the first half both teams had chances to score. The 2nd team keeper for the day, Amy Shmoys, made some excellent saves in some very tight 1 on 1 situations to keep the 2s in the game, whilst Lily Chubb showed some great skill on the wing and created a number of opportunities. After 45 minutes the teams could not be separated and the game looked set for a tie, however, the second half told a very different story.

Coming out after half time, the 2s stepped it up a notch and started playing some really excellent football. At 60 minutes the game was still tied but with the 2nd team creating more and more chances and looking very hungry for a goal. At 65 minutes Hannah Dryden jumped up with the St Andrews keeper to contest a high ball in the box which the keeper caught, but only seconds before Hannah was taken down by a St Andrews defender. The referee awarded a penalty and Bailey Bender stepped up to slot home and put the 2nd team into the lead through a really excellently taken penalty. The 2s then settled down and began to protect their lead and with chances at both ends it appeared the last 20 minutes would be exciting indeed. At 73 minutes one of the St Andrews players received a yellow card for numerous fouls, and no more than 2 minutes later she was then shown red for another. With St Andrews down to 10 players, Bailey Bender stepped up to take the resulting free kick from wide, and played it high into the box to Megan Gower who controlled it well and got a shot away which found the back of the net and put the 2nd team 2 goals up! at 85 minutes in Hannah Dryden was again fouled in the box and Edinburgh were again awarded another penalty, however this time the keeper guessed correctly and Bailey was denied a second goal. Two minutes later and at the other end, the 3rd penalty of the game was awarded and this time to St Andrews. Amy Shmoys guessed correctly and almost got a hand to it but it was unfortunately not enough and St Andrews managed to pull one back late on. With 5 minutes left, Edinburgh battled hard and managed to see out the victory in the end, leaving the final score at 2-1 to the girls in green. As voted by the players, Bailey Bender was awarded Player of the Match after picking up a goal and an assist, whilst also playing in full back and making a number of crucial tackles and interceptions too.

These 3 points see Edinburgh 2nd team move up the Scottish League 1A table (which can be found here https://www.bucs.org.uk/bucscore/League.aspx?id=6656&sport=Football ) and into 4th place, and with one game left to play, will have to wait on results of other fixtures to see where that leaves them come the end of the season, however they've put themselves in a great position against some very good teams. Regardless of rankings however, the 2nd team have again improved greatly over the season so far and this result against St Andrews once again shows how hard work and team work can achieve almost anything, as EUWAFC 2s remain the most successful 2nd team in Scottish women's football to date.

The photos below are property of Craig Doyle, many thanks to Craig for these wonderful shots and helping us to capture some wonderful moments.