This week saw the young ducks travel through the countryside to sunny Charlbury.

With the girls not having had a game for a week or two you could tell they were eager to get the match underway. With a wider than usual pitch (full width of a full size mens) there would be plenty of space for the passing game the manager has tried to instill in his players.

The game started well for Duck, with just 60 seconds gone, the first chance of the game fell to Ella Butler after a Lauren Major cross found her in a few yards of space. Ella's shot was just wide of the goal but this set the pattern for the start of the game. In a reversal of roles 1 minute later, composed work by Ella put Lauren in with a good shooting opportunity which she took, calmly stroking the ball home, for the first goal, from a couple of yards out. 0-1

Due to the layout of the pitch, Vivian Hughes found her first few attempts to come out and pick up the ball a little confusing as she was only allowed the area of the "D" on the eighteen yard box with the goal being on the eighteen yard line but soon settled to the arrangement.

With large open areas of the pitch to pass the ball into Ducklington again gained ground upfield with good midfield running from Laura Jones who, with 7 minutes gone, decided to take on the three defenders one at a time to present herself with a good shooting chance only to see it just go wide of the post.

Charlbury weren't without chances and several early runs from their front two were ably dealt with by the ever present Katie Hoare, who's tackling on this day was to prove a crucial asset.

Eleven minutes gone and Duck were caught in possession in the midfield. With a quick early pass to Beth Smith up front, she took one touch and shot low from 15 yards out and Charlbury were level. 1-1

Ducklington regrouped and went back to the measured passing game again which had been more effective in the early stages of the half. This produced several chances for them. A measured pass from Katie Weaving in defence finds Lauren in a few yards of space, only for her shot to go wide.

14th minute sees good sustained Ducklington pressure result in another close effort from Ella Butler. Eventually the pressure pays off and a goal mouth scramble leads to the ball finding itself at Ella's feet. With both power and accuracy she fired home from 10yds and gave duck the lead once again in the 15th minute. 1-2

This seemed to deflate Charlbury's spirit and within a minute Duck were on the score sheet again. Good defensive work from Both Holly keylock and Emily Gee led to a good pass upfield where again, the front two's persistents pays off and this time Sophie Pym latches onto the loose ball and strokes the ball home to make it 1-3.

With confidence growing all the time, Ducklington apply more pressure and with 5 minutes of the half remaining, create several goalscoring chances but solid defending from the Charlbury girls and a couple of brave saves from their keeper prevents any change in the score.

With seconds of the half remaining, a couple of good challenges by the Charlbury midfield again sees the ball fall to Beth Smith who once again took her chance well and passed the ball into the net to close the gap again. 2-3

The second half sees a more even contest develop but with 3 minutes of the half gone a good forward pass into space allows Abbie Lloyd to fire just wide of the upright. With ten minutes of the half gone Charlbury find their feet and apply pressure to the Ducklington defense but this brings out the best in Duck's central defender, Katie Hoare, who together with some good saves from Vivian Hughes, manage to keep the attacks at bay.

16 minutes in and Charlbury's midfield players play the ball through the Duck defense for their striker to run onto and bear down on the Duck keeper but Vivian Hughes saw the danger and rushed out to win the challenge, well outside her area, to clear. A minute later it's Duck's turn at attacking as Ella Butler breaks from midfield and slides a through ball down the middle for Laura jones to run onto and strike at goal only to see it saved by the keeper but this provides Lauren Major with a shot at goal, through a goalmouth melee, which she finished well from 4 yards out. 2-4

With 5 minutes remaining and Ducklington finishing the game the stronger of the two teams, the pressure began to pay off with a long surging run by Katie weaving down the left wing composing herself at the bye line to drill the ball over into the box for the onrushing Ella Butler to pressurize the defense, which resulted in the ball crossing the goal line and the goal credited to Katie. 2-5

Only 2 minutes later and the same combination pays dividends again for Duck, as good midfield tackling and a through ball for Ella to run onto and round the last defender, before blasting home past the keeper. 2-6

At this stage of the game the Ducklington girls seemed to be dominating the play, as the tired charlbury girls only had the bare 7 players, and with a couple of minutes to play, good interpassing and a cross from the right hand side found Sophie Pym in a yard of space who cleverly turned and shot but was agonising close to a good team goal.

The final whistle went and Ducklington ran out worthy winners although they were pushed well in the middle section of the game.

As for the player of the match award this week, there were some great performances all round, but if you had to pick one who stood out, it would've been Katie Hoare with a great display of defensive dominance - well done Katie!

Katie Weaving In The Tackle

Ella Wins The Ball

Laura Jones Holds On To The Ball