What a great day for a trip to the south coast. And a great day to grab 3 points at Saltdean United. Which is exactly what our ladies did under testing circumstances.
To say it was a scrappy affair played out on a pitch which was uninhabitable is an understatement. A blemish on an otherwise area of outstanding beauty on the Sussex Downs.
As for the toilets they looked liked there must have been an unexploded world war two bomb buried under them until very recently. The detonation fuelled by the alcohol content of the hand sanitizer, which was no longer there either.
Before the game had even started our banner technician was ordered to remove the provocative WE STAND WITH DARTFORD flag from behind the goal, while being falsely accused of encroaching on the pitch.
But at the end of the day it was all about getting three points.
Except for the referee, who thought it was all about him.
Condescending, melodramatic, pedantic, over sensitive, thin skinned, he belonged in a camp sitcom and was a liability to our promotion ambitions. This theatrical nonsense has no place in the women's game. His performance was bordering on the misogynistic at times. Because if he managed a men's semi pro game, he wouldn't have dared perform in the same way. If he had he wouldn't have lasted five minutes without throwing a hissy fit and abandonning the game, just because a challenge to a decision had been made in a perfectly civilised manner.
Yes, that's all it took. The official was gunning for our bench the entire game, all but banning them for doing their job. Which is coaching. He literally told everyone to shut up as if they were part of a theatre audience disrupting his one man show.
It's a football match with high stakes, not a bloody library.
Every comment made, however innocuous, was considered a personal attack and another excuse to turn the spotlight on himself.
Our girls battled for every inch of turf on a pitch barely fit for purpose. Bit like the ref really.
It would be fair to say our ladies were the better side. I think the number of corners we forced, which were far superior to the opposition's, speaks for itself.
And on a playing surface that barely left anything of real significance to write about, apart from shear energy snapping hardwork, there were two massive moments.
In the 58th minute Saltdean's centre forward unleashed a powerful volley from the edge of box which crashed against the bar.
Then on 73 minutes came the big one. A corner from the left was taken by Amy Russ. This caused pandemonium inside the Saltdean box. Now freeze frame this. Brionne Fowle at this moment is still out on the far right, just out of the picture. The goalmouth scramble culminates with a shot on target from Shauni Griffiths. At this point Brionne has started her sprint towards the penalty area.
Shauni's shot is saved.
Bri flies in to smash home the rebound. GOAL!
We didn't have our own matchday photographers present at the game.
But Tony Brown has brilliantly captured the goal in it's entirety, from the corner to the final execution on his i-pad.
The big match winner is why Brionne is my player of the match. Her reading of the situation, anticipation, proactive response with speed, started from a position where she was never going to be picked up, was first class.
That alone made the journey to the south coast worthwhile.
Last but not least I would like to wish our warhorse Emily Vaughan a speedy recovery after ending the afternoon with her left arm in a sling.
To say it was a scrappy affair played out on a pitch which was uninhabitable is an understatement. A blemish on an otherwise area of outstanding beauty on the Sussex Downs.
As for the toilets they looked liked there must have been an unexploded world war two bomb buried under them until very recently. The detonation fuelled by the alcohol content of the hand sanitizer, which was no longer there either.
Before the game had even started our banner technician was ordered to remove the provocative WE STAND WITH DARTFORD flag from behind the goal, while being falsely accused of encroaching on the pitch.
But at the end of the day it was all about getting three points.
Except for the referee, who thought it was all about him.
Condescending, melodramatic, pedantic, over sensitive, thin skinned, he belonged in a camp sitcom and was a liability to our promotion ambitions. This theatrical nonsense has no place in the women's game. His performance was bordering on the misogynistic at times. Because if he managed a men's semi pro game, he wouldn't have dared perform in the same way. If he had he wouldn't have lasted five minutes without throwing a hissy fit and abandonning the game, just because a challenge to a decision had been made in a perfectly civilised manner.
Yes, that's all it took. The official was gunning for our bench the entire game, all but banning them for doing their job. Which is coaching. He literally told everyone to shut up as if they were part of a theatre audience disrupting his one man show.
It's a football match with high stakes, not a bloody library.
Every comment made, however innocuous, was considered a personal attack and another excuse to turn the spotlight on himself.
Our girls battled for every inch of turf on a pitch barely fit for purpose. Bit like the ref really.
It would be fair to say our ladies were the better side. I think the number of corners we forced, which were far superior to the opposition's, speaks for itself.
And on a playing surface that barely left anything of real significance to write about, apart from shear energy snapping hardwork, there were two massive moments.
In the 58th minute Saltdean's centre forward unleashed a powerful volley from the edge of box which crashed against the bar.
Then on 73 minutes came the big one. A corner from the left was taken by Amy Russ. This caused pandemonium inside the Saltdean box. Now freeze frame this. Brionne Fowle at this moment is still out on the far right, just out of the picture. The goalmouth scramble culminates with a shot on target from Shauni Griffiths. At this point Brionne has started her sprint towards the penalty area.
Shauni's shot is saved.
Bri flies in to smash home the rebound. GOAL!
We didn't have our own matchday photographers present at the game.
But Tony Brown has brilliantly captured the goal in it's entirety, from the corner to the final execution on his i-pad.
The big match winner is why Brionne is my player of the match. Her reading of the situation, anticipation, proactive response with speed, started from a position where she was never going to be picked up, was first class.
That alone made the journey to the south coast worthwhile.
Last but not least I would like to wish our warhorse Emily Vaughan a speedy recovery after ending the afternoon with her left arm in a sling.
Statistics: Posted by Ajaxman DFC — Mon Mar 10, 2025 8:29 am