DARTFORD WOMEN 1 WATFORD U23s 2
Played in the Princes Park Stadium 12 o’clock kick-off on Sunday 11thAugust 2024
Dartford team: Jade Charlton, Poppy Payne, Abbey Davies, Jo Woodgates, Ellie Dolby, Beth Powell,
Lizzie Adams, Shauni Griffiths, Xayla-Rae Alberts, Emily Vaughan, Gabby Howell
Subs: Naomi Nash, Brionne Fowle, Neve Connor, Paris Smith, Molly Hawkins, Amy Reader
Scorer: Jo Woodgates(pen)
Watford brought their U23s side down for this pre-season friendly and the match was played in good spirit, high in endeavour, with almost no quarter given or taken but nevertheless a friendly affair. All of this, and played under a hot sun and temperatures in the middle to upper 20s.
This proved to be quite an end-to-end affair especially in the second-half, when Watford seemed able to step it up half-a-gear. But Darts were still in the game and made plenty of inroads to the Watford goal.
Shauni managed to get to the bi-line in the 7th minute but her attempted cross was blocked for a corner but Darts failed to press home an advantage.
On nine minutes Emily Vaughan was fouled – a push in the back – The free-kick was taken by Abbey, who played it short to Shauni whose snap-shot was smothered by defenders.
On quarter-of-an-hour there was a piece of smart trickery between Emily and Gabby on the edge of the penalty area but finally a lucky boot got the ball away. Two minutes later and Jo came to Darts’ rescue as the ball came invitingly to a Watford striker on the edge of the box but Jo, ever-alert to the danger, managed to clear what would have been a clear goal-scoring chance.
On 21 minutes Darts came the closest to opening the score when Em made a great move and smashed a powerful shot that struck the crossbar. But Darts only had to wait another minute as Xayla broke clear into the box and was pulled down by two defenders. Jo duly dispatched the penalty to give the Darts the lead 1-0.
Darts’ poor passing out from the back led to a loose ball which resulted in a foul just outside the box. The resultant free-kick should really have tested Jade in the Darts’ goal but the shot was rather a timid affair and was placed over the bar. A big let-off this for the Darts.
Xayla’s persistence won the ball and pulled out a great long-range shot which the goalie did really well to save.
Just four minutes from the break Watford produced a good move that resulted in their striker firing it under Jade’s body for the equaliser 1-1
But Darts’ nearly got themselves in front before half-time after Gabby sent out a great pass to Ellie on the right wing. She saw Xayla unmarked and tried to line the ball up for a shot but it just marginally fell slightly behind her and although Xayla did her best to adjust shooting position and action, unfortunately couldn’t quite direct the ball goal-wards and the ball skewed across the face of the goal before being hooked away to safety.
One last chance before the half-time whistle. Jo found Poppy who in turn found Xayla and with Poppy continuing her run, a great timed pass from Xayla found her on the bi-line. A defender managed to block but from resultant corner, the ball found its way out to Ellie on the far side and played a beautiful cross into Em who threw herself at the ball but couldn’t get a full connection and received an injury in the process.
HT 1-1
Darts nearly got their noses in front within two minutes of the restart when Lizzie Adams found Ellie whose shot went oh-so-close at the far post.
Nearly ten minutes into the half Watford punished Darts for allowing a loose ball to run kindly for their striker who calmly buried it past Jade for 1-2.
Five minutes later and Darts nearly snatched an equaliser. Bri played the ball to Xayla who provided a great cross which found Em and her accurate header was heading in at the right post when the goalie clawed it away. A great save.
Then Bri produced a fantastic shot which the goalie gathered high near the right post. Ten minutes after coming on in the second-half, Neve produced a stunning shot which flew towards the top corner but unfortunately it smashed against the angle of the crossbar and post.
The game now opened up and Watford made inroads towards Darts goal and an individual effort produced a fine shot but Jade stood her ground and blocked the shot at the near post, saving a sure goal.
Then Jade had to be at her very best to pull off two great saves one after the other as Watford found a lot of space, often playing the ball diagonally and over the Darts defence.
There was still time though, for Darts to have a go at the other end, Paris with a headed pass to Bri who set off Xayla who made a great run into their area but a defender’s toe just cleared the day before Paris let go with a great shot that just eluded the keeper … and the left hand post.
Last chance of the day was made through good work from Xayla and Amy Reader, with Xayla sending over a pin-point cross into the area but defenders did just enough to put Molly off with her header.
So, this was another god workout for the Darts and with the season’s start now less than a week away it was good practice also for Connor ‘B’ to set up the big scoreboard screen for use at our home games in the stadium this season.
Report by Tony Brown
Photos by Steve Cullum.
Additional work can be found of Steve’s and Taur Everard’s match photos on Dartford FC Women's media sites, Facebook and Instagram as well as Steve’s own Facebook page.
