Keen to banish the memories of their frustrating 5-4 defeat against OW earlier in the season, Julian’s were determined to put the record straight at ‘Fortress Trinity Fields’.
Yet it was OW who weathered the early pressure and adapted well to the gale-force winds. And two slick passing moves saw the well-drilled visitors cruise into a two-goal lead at half-time.
Julian’s refused to press the panic button and in the second half they began to gain a foothold in the game.
Alice, who spent the first quarter as goalkeeper, was bamboozling the opposition with her twinkle-toe skills on the left of midfield.
She picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box and smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar. The ball bounced down on the line and through the legs of the unfortunate OW keeper. Game on!
Back came OW and Cleo, who had selflessly donned the goalkeeper gloves, showed her athleticism and bravery by ignoring the flying boots and dived full length to push out a goal-bound shot. Their striker was following up and looked certain to fire in the rebound when, from out of nowhere, Elizabeth slid in to clear the danger like a modern-day Paolo Maldini.
Both Cleo and player-of-the-match Elizabeth prefer to play in the striking role, but showed what great team players they are by putting in a heroic shift at the back to keep the dangerous OW strikers at bay.
Bo was also doing a sterling job in defence, showing her usual calmness under pressure, determination and resilience to win countless fifty-fifty tackles and linking up beautifully with Isobel on the right to get Julian’s on the attack.
Isobel used her excellent footballing brain and keen positional sense to put in several well-timed challenges in the first half. But pushed up into a more attacking role after the interval – she was causing a real headache for the OW defenders.
Alice then found her team-mate and great friend Luella on the edge of the area and the Julian’s centre-forward smashed a luscious rising shot into the far corner to give the keeper no chance. It was all square.
A barnstorming run from the unstoppable Esme saw three OW defenders try to crowd her out, but she cleverly centred the ball to hotshot Luella, who was in acres of space. Luella kept her calm to grab her second goal of the afternoon, and third of the weekend after notching for her school the day before, by wrongfooting the keeper. Julian’s were in front for the first time that afternoon.
And Luella repaid the favour, setting up Esme for Julian’s fourth goal. Again, all the damage was done down the right with Luella drawing in two defenders and centring for Esme. This pocket rocket did not need to be asked twice and Esme drilled a stinging drive into the far corner of the net.
Old Wilsonians huffed and they puffed as they tried to get back into the game, in this end-to-end contest, but ultimately it was their house that came crashing down on a blustery day in south London.
Report: By Matthew Leach