Wycombe Wanderers Ladies' development team’s first game in the Southern Region Women's Football League was at home against Abbey Rangers, who had been promoted themselves via back to back promotions from the Thames Valley League, over the previous two seasons. Wycombe therefore knew the challenge was going to be a stern one.
The opening exchanges saw Wycombe play the better football with some neat football through the thirds of the pitch, with Southby prompting from midfield, Ball, Chowdhry and Woods providing willing targets, and Wheller getting forward on the right side.
Unfortunately a five-minute spell then saw the Chairgirls concede two goals in five minutes, firstly failing to clear the ball effectively from a corner and next from a long ball. Conceding the two quick goals impacted the Chargirls' play for the rest of the first half but they had appeared to be getting back into the game when another brace of goals in quick succession just before half-time saw the girls go in at half-time 4-0 down, a scoreline that didn’t reflect the balance of play, but was a reminder of the step up in standard of the league they were competing in.
Despite the defeat, the development team came away from the game with many positives and lots of learning, which is what the team, the season, and the adventure of competing in the SRWFL is all about.
Team: Whittle; Wheller, Knock, Orchard, Coward Shah; Baker, Poland,; Southby, Woods, Ball
Subs: Winfield, Chowdhry, Johnston, Day, Tillier
