Tenbury Ladies 3, Badsey Ladies 5.

BADSEY had the worst possible start to this Worcestershire League Division One clash as they began sluggishly and found themselves two goals down inside 10 minutes.

The shell-shocked Badsey girls then rallied and started to get their game together on a sandy pitch.

Sarah Rickey and Kay Amphlett were working well together on the right and the visitors pulled a goal back after Rickey’s surging run and cross was turned into the net by Lynne Ellarby. Gradually, the Badsey midfield began to dominate, retaining possession well through Amphlett, Karen Moore and Nicky Beasley.

They drew level when Shelly Banner beat the keeper from shortrange. The game threatened to become bad tempered as Badsey struggled with the physical nature of Tenbury’s defending.

However, they rose above it and played some super hockey throughout the whole team to go into the second-half all-square.

Early in the second period, Badsey went ahead following another speedy run down the right by Rickey.

This caused confusion in the home defence and resulted in Karen Robinson putting the loose ball past the Tenbury keeper. The visitors then had to rethink as Robinson was hit in the face by a stray ball which brought her game to a premature end. Tenbury then rallied and had a good spell which brought them their third goal. But Badsey were in no mood to settle for a draw and redoubled their efforts. They were rewarded when a Tenbury defender stopped the ball on the line with her foot and Jane Rickey coolly converted the penalty-flick to restore the lead. The last 10 minutes were frantic as Tenbury tried to find another goal.

However, solid defending from Wendy Hardy, Fi Jordan and player-of-the-match Nikki Wright denied them. Badsey sealed the win when Ellarby made a trademark run into the ‘D’ and then put in a good cross for an unmarked Banner to slot the ball past the despairing home goalkeeper.