Coal in their stockings this year

In the final game before the Christmas break, the ladies 1s took on Marlow at home. Despite some secret santa goodies pre-game and plenty of Christmas cheer, the girls were denied the best present, a festive win.
Marlow were a strong and organised squad and they pressurised the Bicester side early on. Despite this, Bicester showed determination and the defensive line of Sam, Holly and Laura worked well together. Alongside some great saves from Jo they were able to hold Marlow back for the first 15 mins. As the first half drew to a close Marlow had nabbed themselves 3 goals and were setting the rhythm of the game.
As the second half started, Bicester let their heads drop for a few minutes which Marlow capitalised on, steadily increasing the scoreline. However, Bicester were not ready to sit back and take the loss, instead they lifted their game and fought on. Abbie and Faye worked well in the midfield, helping to distribute balls to Lorraine and Charlie on the wings.
A Bicester short corner that went awry allowed Shannon to smash a hard ball in for Irish, who was waiting on the penalty spot for her chance to sweep the ball onto the backboard. A further short corner was given the old Charlie special and although it went in, the umpires deemed it slightly too high. Might be time to invest in a video-umpire system, as it seems like it might be a season for disallowed goals for Bicester this year.
Despite the scoreline, what might bring some Christmas cheer to the ladies this year, is the fact that for the last 20 minutes we had Marlow on the back-foot and they were getting rattled by our determination to play the game our way. Unfortunately, a little too late.

Final score: Bicester 1 - 7 Marlow
Scorer: Irish (Alison Haik)
Dame of the Game: Faye Walters & Laura Pickering
Tit of the Team: Abbie Stevens