Batley triumph in another goal fest!

After a week off, Batley ladies met at the home pitch for our match against Bradford. Having beaten them away earlier in the season, we were hopeful for a repeat performance.

Having played Bradford a few times, we were prepared for their hard hitters, not that it makes them much easier to deal with. It was clear very quickly that the bulk of the strength was in midfield and the key Bradford players were going to quickly feed the ball through to forwards.

The first few minutes were end to end with both Bradford and Batley having some great attacks. The first goal came from a great lifted shot from Bradford, Batley were 1-0 down. We retaliated quickly with a determined attack that resulted in a short corner. Some great skill from Sophie led to Batley's first GOAL!

Back level at 1-1 the game started again, Bradford using their strength through the middle and Batley working round the strong central players.

Batley kept pushing forwards finding space around the Bradford midfield, the next attack by Batley broke down the Bradford defence with some great passing between the forwards and a GOAL from Jo. 2-1 to Batley.

Some changes in the players on the pitch between Bradford and Batley led to some confusion for the Batley defence and a couple of close calls. Helens fantastic saves kept the Batley lead safe. Before the half time whistle Batley had another great attack which lead to Jo's second GOAL. 3-1 to Batley.

Half time Batley were 3-1 up and positive about the second half.

In the second half, Bradford’s key midfielders were running the Batley players ragged and making some breaks through. Janna was doing a great job of stopping the Bradford attacks and keeping the ball up the field, however, Batley had to face some short corners, the first of the game. The first few of these were dealt with well, until Bradford slipped around the front runner and had a clear shot on goal to score their second 3-2 to Batley.

A strong tackle in midfield left Jo dazed on the sideline after being hit in the head with the ball. There was also an injury to Hilary as she took a blow to the head during an attack.

Batley were still on the attack and a great back flick from Jodi gave Batley the fourth GOAL of the match.

With 15 minutes to go Bradford made a quick attack that took Batley by surprise and led to the third goal for Bradford. Squeaky bum time! We did not want to let go of his lead! The last few minutes were frantic for both teams while we tried to defend our lead.

The final whistle went and Batley won 4-3! Man of the match went to Helen for keeping us in the lead with her fantastic saves.

The next day we play Leeds! Let's hope for another win!

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