Park Ladies beat Waterbeach to all but seal promotion

Park Ladies sealed a 5-3 win over Waterbeach to all but guarantee their promotion this season.

The ladies knew a positive result would go a long way to seal their aspirations, and got off to a dream start.

They very quickly took the lead when a shot from Georgia Stimson deflected off a defender and allowed Amy Hunt to tap home from close range.

Shortly afterwards, a Teagan Pulman corner was cleared only as far as Erin Powell, who put it back into the box and found Sophie Fenner.

She connected with it hip-first and directed it towards goal, and the resultant scramble saw it go in for goal number two.

Park found themselves 3-0 up when another ball into the box was met by a home defender and stabbed into her own net.

Park continued to press forward, but found themselves down toten when Hunt ended up in the sin-bin. This was the cue for the game to settle as Waterbeach tried to take advantage of their temporary extra player.

However, the ladies added a fourth after 34 minutes. A good run from Fenner saw her play the ball through to Stimson, who took on two defenders and slotted home.

Another Park foray forward saw Georgia Payne receive the ball on the by-line. She took the ball past two opponents and scored from an almost impossible angle to make it 5-0.

The home team emerged for the second half a completely different side and looked determined to get something from the game.

Park continued to work but found themselves unable to pull off the final ball, often frustrated by the defence or putting their chances wide.

The best chance of the second half fell to Fran Plitsch, whose long-range rocket rattled the crossbar.

Waterbeach were awarded a penalty after a push inside the box, which they converted. Shortly afterwards they had a second when a long-range lob dipped under the crossbar to make it 5-2.

Both sides continued to battle in an end-to-end game, but Park couldn’t take their chances and it was Waterbeach who pulled a third back when a Park player deflected the ball into her own net when attempting to clear a corner.

In the final minute, Park conceded another penalty when the keeper went into a high 50-50 challenge with an onrushing striker and proceeded to clatter her as the ball was knocked away.

The penalty was scored, but a retake was ordered as a home player encroached into the area. Fortunately for Park, the retake was skied over the bar and the guilty party breathed a sigh of relief.

It was another game of two halves as Park again allowed their opponents back into the game, but three points mean the ladies require just a single point from their final two games to confirm promotion. Sophie Fenner, after an excellent performance on the wing, was player of the match.