The sun shone brightly as the Ladies travelled to Keswick. There were several players unavailable but they were pleased to welcome new signing Becky Rush into the squad.
Newlaithes started brightly and took the lead after 7 minutes following a foul on Faye Comber to the right of the Keswick area. Chelsea Norris stepped up to float her left-footed free kick over the keepers head and into the roof of the net. Five minutes later and they got their second when Carly Stevenson picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area to score into the bottom left hand corner with a spectacular curling shot which was struck with the outside of her right foot. On 20 minutes Carly Stevenson burst through the Keswick defence to hit a firm, low cross across goal for Faye Comber to run in and finish sweetly from close range but unfortunately she was adjudged to have been off-side. However a minute later, Carly Stevenson grabbed her second when she intercepted a Keswick pass and jinked inside a defender before tucking the ball into the bottom corner. On 25 minutes new signing Becky Rush entered the field of play and within 2 minutes she set up Faye Comber with a quick diagonal ball from midfield that Faye did brilliantly to chest down and stab the ball past her marker before tucking it away. It was virtually one way traffic with Keswick making the occasional break into the Newlaithes half and on 32 minutes Newlaithes got their fifth when Claire Blackburn broke down the left before crossing for Chelsea Norris to volley in at the near post for her second.
Newlaithes took the initiative right from the start of the 2nd half but Keswick gave an indication of their intentions when Mairead Kinsella was fouled 25 yards out. Paige Williams stepped up to fire home via the underside of the bar. Newlaithes continued to pressure but Keswick were defending much deeper and were quick to pressure the ball as they gave the Newlaithes players something to think about with some tough tackling. However Newlaithes increased their lead on 61 minutes when Pat Currie crossed from the right for Paige Williams to head home for her 2nd. The game then settled into a pattern with Newlaithes almost camped in the Keswick half but finding it difficult to find any space as their opponents worked their socks off to close down space and pressure the ball to deny any clear cut shooting opportunities. Then when Newlaithes did get a shot in, the Keswick keeper was on top form, making a string on top drawer saves to keep Newlaithes at bay. Newlaithes were also guilty of missing a number of good opportunities due in part to the close attention of the Keswick defenders but it's fair to say that the majority should have gone in. Then on 89 minutes, Newlaithes eventually made the breakthrough when Faye Comber was fouled just outside the area to the left of centre. She took the kick herself and cleverly curled a low shot round the wall that flew in at the far post. Then as the game moved into injury time, Paige Williams laid the ball out to Pat Currie to score with a trademark 1st time thunderbolt, played with the inside of her foot, from just to the right of the area.
Although this was a comfortable victory for Newlaithes, the home side showed tremendous determination to keep Newlaithes at bay for much of the second half. Newlaithes swapped players around, with some finding themselves in unfamiliar positions. Player of the match was Becky Rush for her movement off the ball and willingness to provide support when space was at a premium.
Next week the Ladies travel to Wigton for a showdown with Abbeytown, who still have a 100% record in the league this season!
