Close fought derby

The start of an eagerly anticipated season, and the SFA's computer produced a mouth-watering local derby with Letham Girls.

Jeanfield kicked off and flew into an early lead thanks to an Abbie Ferguson goal. From the beginning it was clear that both teams possessed bags of pace up front, and the result would come down to which outfit was able to capitalise most.

Letham always seem to produce big kicking keepers, and their goalie today was no exception. For the away team's first two goals, a long punt forward made life difficult for Jeanfield's defence and Letham's striker was quick to pounce. Their third goal came midway through the first half as a shot from range bobbled horribly on the ground, which had very little give in it for the start of the season, and eluded Jeanfield's keeper.

No sooner had Letham finished celebrating, however, than Jeanfield made the most of a break-away of their own. The home side preferred to keep the ball on the deck and slick passing out of defence from Olivia Laing, through midfield via Eilidh Davies, quickly found Abbie Ferguson who netted to bring the score back to 2-3.

All the while, Jeanfield's engine room was being powered by the machine that is Bernie Young, who must have covered more miles in this match than all of the rest put together. Constantly tracking back, she worked incessantly to prevent Letham getting another sight of goal.

Not long after, Abbie Ferguson popped up again to level the score, and clearly enjoyed scoring her hat-trick. By this time, Jeanfield were clearly in the ascendence, pressing hard for more goals. Eventually, the fourth came just before the break, and proved to be the winning shot.

A stalemate ensued in the second half, but the action was no less exciting for it. Both sides defences were pressed into action repeatedly, and both had chances to score, with Bernie putting a long shot over the bar and a close-range attempt skewing off the side of Beth Allen's boot with the goalie apparently beaten. In goal for Jeanfield, Amelia continued to grow in confidence and made a number of good saves, showing that she has a safe pair of hands.

Finally, however, the game drew to a close with the home side again pressing hard. A well deserved win to start the season is just what the team wanted, and their desire was evident in this victory.