First Team
Gillingham Ladies 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on August 23, 2009
Gillingham Ladies made it two wins out of two with a hard-earned 3-1 victory over a well-organised Tottenham Hotspur side at Martin Grove.
The strike pairing of Natalie Crinean and Ashlee Hincks did the damage for the Gills, with Crinean opening the scoring in the first half and Hincks adding two more in the second. A soft penalty award gifted Spurs a consolation goal deep into stoppage time.
From the kick off it was obvious that Spurs would present a far sterner test than Cambridge last week, but despite a far more competitive encounter, Gillingham looked the stronger side throughout.
Gillingham took the lead on 17 minutes when Crinean latched onto a headed through-ball and finished superbly past Ebony Cabey-Gooden in the Spurs goal.
The Gills threatened throughout, with Hincks, Crinean and Danni Farmer all going close with efforts that tested Cabey-Gooden.
Hincks found the top corner with a close-range finish from a Whitney Judd cross mid-way through the second half and former Watford striker Hincks was on hand to make it 3-0 shortly after. The Gills number eight rampaged down the left flank, cut inside and slammed the ball into the net after Cabey-Gooden superbly blocked her first effort.
On a day when Gillingham’s strike pairing terrorised the Spurs defence, Crinean could easily have headed home with the match ball, but her match-long battle with Cabey-Gooden saw the Spurs keeper pull off a string of impressive saves to deny the Gills number nine, including a plunging save down to her left to save Crinean’s second-half penalty.
And the final action of the match saw Spurs convert a penalty kick after former Spurs skipper Kelly Herrett was harshly adjudged to have fouled a Spurs forward. Even then, goalkeeper Laura Halfpenny very nearly saved the well-struck spot-kick.
Considering the side has only been together for a couple of months, Gillingham have already formed a tight, well-organised, unit and hopes are high that the team will go from strength to strength as the season progresses.
Gillingham: Halfpenny, Judd, Tricker, Kay, Herrett, Lyon, Farmer, Hincks, Crinean, Johnson (Russ 45), Ashton-Jones
Subs not used: Thurston, Broad, Foster, Overton
Goals: Crinean, Hincks (2)
Attendance: 152