MATCH REPORT | Eastern Suburbs 5 v Birkenhead United 0

After the heartbreak of going out of the Kate Shepherd Cup on penalties on Thursday evening, Eastern Suburbs ladies were in need of something to lift their mood, and this game delivered that as Claudelands offered very little threat despite the much changed suburbs line up.

Suburbs started slowly – it was almost as if they were still thinking through that bruising Thursday night encounter and still expecting their opponents to pressure them aggressively as Glenfield do. However, this didn’t happen and they soon realised they had much more time on the ball against bottom of the league Claudelands. Suburbs midfield began to dominate the game and their attacking duo of Jade Parris and Hannah Pilley were able cut through the Claudelands defence almost at will.

After a few unsuccessful attacks involving intricate passing and runs down the flank, Jade Parris decided the best course of action was to take on defenders herself straight down the middle. It was one of these powerful runs that provided her first goal, out-sprinting the defenders and shooting from the edge of the penalty box. The Claudelands keeper stopped the shot but couldn’t gather the ball and Parris had continued her run to pass the ball into the net from the rebound.

A few minutes later Suburbs got their second, again through the middle as Parris threaded a well weighted pass to Hannah Pilley who calmly side footed past an on-rushing goalkeeper into the corner of the net.
The third goal was almost a copy of the first, as Parris again held off a number of Claudelands defenders to power through and finish well.

With the score at 3-0 at half time and with Suburbs in full control, the supporters were looking forward to a goal fest in the second half. However, Claudelands had changed a few things at half time and began closing Suburbs down much quicker. They also managed a few attacks of their own through their pacey forwards who caused Suburbs a few problems at the back.
The Lilywhites finally regained their composure halfway through the second half and Parris again found herself running onto a through ball from Pilley which she dispatched into the corner of the net.

Shortly after this another run down the right wing by Pilley resulted in a firmly struck cross hitting a defender and wrong footing the keeper for an own goal.

During the final 15 minutes of this match Suburbs huffed and puffed but couldn’t break down the battling Claudelands defence. They were restricted to a number of long range shots that struggled to make an impact against the strengthening wind.

It was good to see some new faces being introduced to the Suburbs team as the match wore on. Ruby Rimmer and Ella Russ, both reserve team regulars, came on as second half substitutes and made good contributions.

To be fair, the result should have been much more emphatic than this given Suburbs dominance of this game and the number of chances that went begging, but at the end of the day they will be happy with the three points and a relatively relaxed match after their recent exertions.