PDFL Matchday 1

Sunday was Matchday 1 of the PDFL and it was all change as the competition has moved to Borderville this year. On the pitch things are a bit different too. For the first time, probably ever, Strollers are not in the top division and we're also experimenting with a social team in the third tier.

So to the Championship, where Strollers opened with a very convincing 4-0 win over Leverington Tigers. Merryn Kelby grabbed two goals, both cool finishes (as you'd expect), one from a glorious diagonal pass from Mike Edwards, who also added a goal. There were PDFL debuts for Toni Cammarata and Pedro Molero who acquitted themselves well with Toni scoring from a well-placed shot. The whole team played well with Jason Fullman keeping things tidy at the back and Nigel Reeve bossing the centre of the pitch. Goalkeeper, Steve Bavage-Crowson barely had a shot to save; a good indication of how dominant Strollers were.

The second game was a much tougher affair against a strong Boston Utd team. This game really could have gone either way but in the last third of the match, Strollers were on top. Pedro was unlucky to have a well-taken goal chalked off for not-walking. Before that we had hit the bar twice and created several good scoring opportunities. Steve was called upon much more and made one noteworthy stop among many saves. A good start for Strollers: a win and a draw, no goals conceded, and good performances all round left their manager (me) in a good mood, and the team in third place.

In League One, Stamford Strollers Social, made their bow against Whittlesey Athletic. In the opening five minutes Social kept possession nicely, frustrating the opposition. Sue Glasgow, Carl Richards, Wai, and Jez Norris all combined well. It was a promising start. Gradually though, Whittlesey found their way into the game and when they got round the stout defending of Chris Sweeney, threatened the Social goal. There stood Emma Goldsmith who ended up taking all the plaudits with a superb goalkeeping display. Even so, Whittlesey managed to bag three with no reply.

The newly appointed ladies manager, Julie Marsh, started the second game against Huntingdon where again the team started well. Jez pushed on more, Carl moved inside to get involved more and Social created more opportunities to score. In doing so they left themselves vulnerable at the back and despite another fine performance by Emma, Huntingdon scored four unanswered goals. A tough start but many positives to take forward.