Bourne Deeping Ladies 1st put up spirited fight in 2-2 draw against Pelicans.

Bourne Deeping Ladies 1st team continue to fight for position in East Division 2NW after a 2-2 draw at home against the Pelicans 1s. Having been narrowly tamed 1-0 by the visitors when the two teams met in November in Kings Lynn, the Dragons looked to even the scores as the team began an early dominant spell of possession.
Their doggedness was rewarded early on in the first half thanks to a brilliant initial display of passing on the left side from Alice Brooks, Helena Darragh and Sophie Brittan. After advancing the ball deep into opposition territory, Brittan eased her way around two defenders before executing a near-perfect pass across the goal to the waiting stick of Sara Walters-Morgan, who eased the ball past the keeper.

The match continued in that vein for the next ten minutes until a slight lapse in communication left an unmarked Pelicans player able to get away their first shot of the afternoon, with the strike good enough to get by goalkeeper Laura Kemp.
Undeterred, Bourne Deeping continued to pile on pressure but were unable to convert from two short corner opportunities as the Pelicans held firm against shots from Brittan, Walters-Morgan and Naomi Smith, who made her long-awaited return from injury with a player of the match performance in midfield.

The final piece of action came after a few brilliant tackles from Captain Kerry Fisher, when a quick-thinking interception from Lucy Norman led to a breakaway chance and left the Pelicans scrambling to get back in to position. It would have undoubtedly been a contender for goal of the season if she’d managed to put it away, but the opposition goalkeeper held firm, stopping the Dragons from moving out in front for a second time before the end of the first half.
Buoyed up by that late run and a motivating half-time team talk, it didn’t take long for Bourne Deeping to regain control of the match and earn their first chance. After a well-worked piece of play from Rachel Gale and Emily Murray earned another long-corner, Smith crossed the ball to Brittan, who lifted her arms triumphantly in celebration, convinced the Dragons had earned their second goal. A moment of confusion followed as play was allowed to carry on, and the umpire quickly concluded he had been unable to see a definitive goal.

It was a disheartening moment, but the Dragons remained determined, and less than five minutes later Sue Oakley found the stick of Smith, who collected the ball on her reverse stick and reflexively pushed it in to the goal before the keeper even saw it coming. Unfortunately, the lead wasn’t to last. With just over 10 minutes left in the second half, the Pelicans were awarded a penalty corner for a foot, and they seized their opportunity to equalise as the home team let their lead slip for a second time. The injector found her mark at the top of the D, but so did Dragons defender Camilla Tait, who stopped the initial strike at target before losing her stick to the impact, and the resulting rebound shot found its way under the foot of Kemp.

With the scores at 2-2, the Dragons reasserted their control over the game for the final minutes, but two penalty corner attempts went by without reward, and late bursts from Carol Murray and Fisher earned more chances in the Pelicans half until they suffered the same fate.