Sevenoaks (H) - 12th November 2023

By David Hansen

Sunday afternoon see’s the Margate Women return to Southeast Counties Women’s Football League action as they take on Sevenoaks Town at Hartsdown Park, with victory for the ‘Gate taking them above their opponents in the league table.

The women bring some good form into this game as they’ve scored six goals in their last 180 minutes of football whilst only shipping one goal. This began with an away victory against Bromleians 3-0 at the John Cooper Ground, and most recently beating Tunbridge Wells in the SECWFL 3-1 in the 2nd round of the League Cup 3-1 at Hartsdown Park.

Our visitors Sevenoaks Town come into the game off the back of a loss and a win, starting with a 4-0 loss against top of the league XL at the Greatness Recreation Ground. Most recently they picked up a win the in the SECWFL Cup as they defeated Gravesham 6-3 at the Cascades Leisure Centre to reach the next round.

This game included a hat-trick from Sevenoaks Player Milly Isaac so the Margate Women’s team should be wary of the quality she possesses.

H2H Record:

Sevenoaks Town 3-3 Margate Women (02/10/22)

Goals: Harriet Galloway, Natasha Hurst, Shannon King

Margate Women 1-1 Sevenoaks Town (12/03/23)

Goal: Nicole Adams

Team News:

The only team news is that Goalkeeper Jasmine Wood will be available to play as she has served the mandatory period that comes with a concussion, which she picked up against Millwall Lionesses in the Women’s FA cup.

Kick-off for this game is 3pm and entrance to Hartsdown Park can be made by the gate next to the turnstiles with admission costing £2 for adults and £1 for concessions.

A reminder that anyone who brings their bingo tickets from Friday nights Charity Bingo event where we raised money to put towards the running cost for the Margate Women will gain free entrance.

We look forward to welcoming all supporters to Hartsdown Park to get behind Steph Meek and her team as they look to leapfrog Sevenoaks Town in the league on Sunday Afternoon.

Women Share Spoils In Eight Goal Thriller

By David Hansen

Sunday afternoon saw Margate Women and Sevenoaks Town play out a thrilling 4-4 draw at Hartsdown Park in the South-East Counties Women’s Football League to keep the gap in the table at three points in favour of Sevenoaks Town.

The game began at blistering speed as Margate scored the 1st goal of the game within two minutes of the start as Katy Hyde was slipped through and she rolled the ball into the corner to give the ‘Gate the perfect start.

After the early goal it would be Sevenoaks to settle into the game the better as they started to threaten the Margate penalty area starting with a close shot from forward Evie Williams which just sailed over the bar.

However, Sevenoaks would take the 2nd chance as a well-placed free kick unfortunately found the head of Abigail Greetham and found the far corner just out of reach of Jasmine Wood in goal to level the score after 12 minutes.

Sevenoaks could have had two in the space of a couple of minutes as a ball was played through on goal but before a shot could be taken a superb crunching tackle by Jessica Coltham-Lai thwarted any kind of attempt at goal, brave and top notch defending.

Margate knew they had to be aware of striker Milly Isaac as she bagged a hat-trick in here last game against Gravesham in the League Cup. Her first chance came on the 22nd minute as she took a ball down from a cross, but her shot was well wide, but she had started to pick up some better positions in the Margate area.

Minutes later Sevenoaks would take the lead as a tackle from Shannon King led to the visitors earning themselves a penalty. Captain Natalie Graves would place the penalty in the bottom left corner leaving Jasmine Wood routed to the spot making it 2-1.

With ten minutes left of the first half, an error at the back from Sevenoaks would allow Rebecca Niblett to steal the ball and take a shot which would find the far corner to equalise against the run of play moments after skipper Becca Slevin had entered the fray.

The introduction of Slevin to the game had made an immediate impact as she drove with the ball from her position at holding midfield and then slid the ball through to Niblett who grabbed her 2nd goal of the afternoon only a couple of minutes after her 1st to give Margate back the lead before half-time.

The first 15 minutes of the 2nd half were tight and neither side could really make a clear chance with the only real shot on goal came from Greetham when Niblett cut the ball back to her, but she could only find the gloves of the keeper.

Seconds after this Abbie Luby showed her explosive pace on the counterattack as she ran from inside her own half to get onto the end of a long ball leaving the Sevenoaks defence behind, allowing her to score Margate’s 4th of the afternoon with a cool finish in the far corner to make it 4-2.

Unfortunately, this time it would be Sevenoaks to show their pace as much like Luby, outpaced the back line before finding the far corner to get the visitors back within a single goal. The game was starting to get stretched chances were coming more frequently.

Sevenoaks would level the score in the 69th minute as a corner which was swung in from the left side couldn’t be dealt with and managed to beat Wood at her near post levelling the game setting up a fascinating last 20 minutes at Hartsdown Park.

After the Sevenoaks equaliser, neither team could really create a chance to win themselves the game as a sequence of corners from both teams were dealt with, as well as a long race shot from Greetham didn’t trouble the keeper late on meaning the points would be shared with the game ending 4-4 in a real back and forth affair.

The Margate Women continue in the SECWFL next Sunday as they take on London Road away at the Victory Academy with the next home game coming on the 3rd of December where they take on XL.

Lineup:

Wood, Charman, Coltham-Lai ©, Kemp, Duff, Greetham, Nightingale, Kew-Stroud, Luby, Niblett, Hyde.

Subs:

Slevin, Harrington, Scales, King, Speller

Goals:

Niblett x2

Luby x1

Hyde x1