Frustrating defeat for the 1s after a long battle

Squad: Dryden (GK), McConnell, Kim (C), Bosman, Williams, Kelly, Coppel, Higgins, Macdonald, Brown, Duverger, Alexander, Sontag-Hanman.

On Wednesday 23 October 2019, the first team welcomed Northumbria for a 5pm kick-off on the 3G2 at Peffermill. The opponents had won the BUCS Premier North in the previous academic year and the first team knew they would be facing high-level opponents. Sontag-Hanman unfortunately had suffered an injury during training, but Dryden accepted her first call-up as the first team goalkeeper with extreme composure. There was a lot of support for the first team despite cooling temperatures and windy conditions, and Edinburgh started the game through their kick-off. The first half hour of the game saw a strong Edinburgh line of defence, with several tactical offsides given against the strong Northumbria side. The team worked extremely hard together defensively, especially in the final third, to deny any attacking chances of Northumbria. Dryden showed outstanding composure and made several crucial saves to ensure Edinburgh were still very much in the game. After several phases of changes in possession by the two teams, Edinburgh finally made a breakthrough when Duverger dribbled through the Northumbria backline but lacked the final shot and the score remained 0-0. The Edinburgh side quickly became the dominant side and Duverger made another break when a Northumbria defender failed to make contact with the ball. This time, Duverger successful out dribbled the goalkeeper and scooped the ball into the back of the net for the first goal of the match. A load roar emerged from 3G2 and the Edinburgh side were in the lead against the former league champions. The first half quickly finished, and it was Edinburgh leading with 1-0. In the first fifteen minutes of the second half, Edinburgh lost composure and made several unforced defensive errors which really tested Dryden in goal. Edinburgh slowly regained possession of the ball, showing great passing combinations and runs into the opponent’s half. Unfortunately, a break by the Northumbria side resulted in a goal for the opposition, and the score was 1-1. Quickly succeeding this break was another long-range shot that was converted into a goal due to a defensive error of the Edinburgh side. Edinburgh continued to fight hard and continuously and a fantastic attacking effort by the midfield and attackers saw Brown scoring her third goal for the Club to make the equaliser. Despite fighting extremely hard, the Edinburgh side lost another goal to a corner curved into the goal, and this was quickly followed by another successful long-range shot by the Northumbria striker. The second half finished, and the score ended 2-4 despite Edinburgh initially dominating the game.

Player of the match went to Hannah Dryden for her outstanding performance as goalkeeper and stepping up in the light of Sontag-Hanman’s injury less than twenty-four hours before the match.