BHTFC Women and Managers take great pride in keeping clean sheets. It’s a great trait to have and will stand them in good stead as they hunt down League and Cup titles later in the season. The squad travelled south to Mile Oak last Sunday to face a club who are trying to build and get themselves off the bottom of the division. With heavy rain falling on the Downs, it was a relief that the game could go ahead albeit on a heavy, lush pitch.
The 1st half turned into a real gritty encounter where neither side could find any fluency or forward momentum. Any skills that were on show came from the Hill right winger Hannah Sparshott who was engaged and on the front foot. However, end product was in short supply as Oak were happy with a robust challenge and long punt forward. It wasn’t pretty to watch, or no doubt play in. On 45 mins an innocuous through ball found a Hill player inside the box who had the ball knocked out for a corner. Everybody in the ground was then amazed that the ref pointed to the spot. Ellie Livingstone made no mistake to take a one nil half time lead.
Apart from a 10 min spell in the 2nd half when Oak camped themselves in the Hill area it was the visitors who found all the answers. Scoring sensation Brogan Kirk smashed home the 2nd from distance. It was then that Hill had to defend deep and bravely as Oak came alive. However, resistance was short lived as Kirk swept home her second. Captain, Alice Horton drifted an accurate shot in at the far post. Hill were very much in the ascendancy pinging passes all over the pitch. Kirk wrapped up the points with her hattrick and Hills 5th goal.
Mile Oak 0 BHTFC 5
Assistant Manager Jacob Bennett said later ‘It was very important to get that result, we are chasing in the league so couldn’t afford to slip up here. Mile Oak might be bottom, but they played really well today. In the 2nd half we really clicked and took the game away’ As to the clean sheet he explained ‘it’s a nice habit to have, can we go do it again!’
Huge thanks to Mile Oak for hosting and good luck going forward. Hill Women moved up to 4th place in the league with games in hand. Brogan will receive a lot of plaudits for her hattrick but victory on the road often comes down to being solid at the back. Lucy Neill typified a strong defensive unit to become the Player of the Match
The team are back in Sussex Challenge Cup action at East Preston 2pm on 8th December.
