A warm misty morning greeted the Ducklington faithful, with a festival of sport ahead for the day commencing with this clash between Ducklington v Carterton later to be followed by England V Estonia and culminating in The Rugby semi-final clash between England and France.

With a depleted squad and only one substitute this was to prove a challenging day for the Ducklington Manager.

Lead out by skipper Holly Keylock, whose own travelling supporters club bolstered the ranks of the home crowd, Ducklington started at pace and three minutes in Laura Jones crossed from the left to the feet of Lauren Major for a shot that was to cruelly skim the right post into the side net.

Carterton rose to the challenge, with last seasons defeat still fresh in the memory and in the seventh minute their strike from the edge of the area was deflected over the bar by Ducklington Keeper, Viv Hughes.

Fourteen minutes gone and Lauren Major put in a pitch length run only to see the resulting shot saved allowing Carterton a counterattack which ended with their shot sailing wide of the Ducklington goal.

A minute later and a goal mouth scramble in the Ducklington area, with stalwart defending by Emily Gee Holly Keylock and Katy Hoare, eventually ended with a safe clearance by Viv Hughes.

Then came a cruel blow in the twenty third minute as Cartertons Ria Mosson’s scrappy shot rolled between the Ducklington defence and over the line. 0-1 this was followed in the first minute of injury time by Ria’s second goal; an unstoppable net busting strike from the edge of the area which screamed under the Ducklington crossbar.0-2

Two nil down at half time and Ducklington had an uphill battle. They rose to the challenge well and in the sixth minute a well worked build up lead to a cross from Sophie Pymm to Katy Hoare whose clean strike was ably dealt with by the Carterton keeper.

In the tenth minute Laura Jones ran up the left wing , single handily taking on two players before crossing to Sophie Pymm whose strike was again saved. In the same five minute spell of sustained pressure Ducklington laid down a barrage of attacks and a series of well worked build ups saw further goal attempts from Katy Hoare and Laura Jones saved.

Ducklington were certainly not getting the rub of the green today. Ducklington were then caught on the break by Carterton and in the sixteenth minute Megan Glyn slotted in the visitors third goal.0-3

Ducklington again responded well and in the twenty third minute Katie Weavings throw in on the half way line fed Sophie Pymm who threaded the ball through to Laura Jones who was again denied by an outstanding save from the Carterton keeper. The final whistle drew the game to an end with the score line remaining at 0-3

Ducklington’s player of the match was awarded to Laura Jones for a battling midfield performance throughout the game. A resilient performance but a disappointing result…..still the other two lesser matches of the day went well!!

Lauren Major On The Ball - (Photo By Ed Mullis)

Holly Keylock Holds Off The Attack - (Photo By Ed Mullis)

Great Save From Viv Hughes - (Photo By Ed Mullis)

A Great Tackle From Laura Jones - (Photo By Ed Mullis)