Hethersett Athletic

Hethersett Athletic opened up a seven point gap at the top of the Eastern Region Premier Division with a hard fought victory on a gluepot pitch at Dagenham and Redbridge,

The victory puts further pressure on Hethersett’s rivals for the championship – Norwich Ladies, Haringey Borough and Peterborough. The team are seven points clear of second placed Haringey and 10 points clear of Norwich although they have played three more games than the latter.

Good football was difficult on an exceptionally muddy pitch but Hethersett proved they can play on any surface and not just on perfect pitches.

It was Hethersett’s sixth consecutive victory, despite the fact that they conceded more than one goal for the first time since September 2^nd.

Hethersett were always in control after Laura Hodgson had given them an early boost. Further goals from Emily Coates and Nicola Bray gave them a commanding 3-0 lead before the home side pulled one back. Bray restored the three goal advantage with her second goal before Dagenham completed the scoring.

This Sunday Hethersett have their final scheduled league match of 2007 when they visit Bedford. The team will be treating each of its nine remaining league games as cup finals.

Remaining fixtures see them visiting Bedford, Cambridge University, Peterborough, Royston and Cambridge United and home games to come are against Dagenham and Redbridge, Barking, Bedford and Norwich City.

Current league positions are:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Ps
Hethersett Athletic	13	10	1	2	49	13	31
Haringey Borough	12	7	3	2	32	27	24
Norwich City	10	6	3	1	29	7	21
Peterborough	11	7	0	4	22	13	21
Woodbridge Town	12	6	1	5	21	19	19
Cambridge University	13	5	1	7	18	32	16
Haverhill Rovers	13	4	2	7	20	34	14
Cambridge United	13	4	1	8	22	33	13
Bedford Ladies	10	3	3	4	23	27	12
Barking	12	4	0	8	17	27	12
Dagenham & Redbridge	11	2	5	4	24	22	11
Royston Town	12	3	0	9	11	34	9

Hethersett Athletic’s first team game against Prince of Denmark was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Easton. The A team’s game at Freethorpe met with the same fate. The spotlight fell therefore on the Reserves as they took on top of the table CEYMS. The visitors proved too strong for Hethersett, running out 6-3 winners despite two goals from Sean Eastman to take his tally for the season to 10 and one from Lewis Allen. This week the firsts visit Hillside Old Boys in the first round of the League Cup. The reserves visit Ex- Mile Cross and the A team are home to Dynamo Denmark (Memorial Field 10.30 a.m).

Hethersett Athletic Girls Under-15s’ match at home to Norwich City Canary Yellows and the Girls Under-12s match at home to Dereham were both postponed due to waterlogged pitches. This Saturday the Under-15 Girls team visit Dereham Wanderers in the league.

Hethersett Athletic Under-15s continued their resurgent form with a fine 5-1 home win over St Andrew’s with striker Adam Smith hitting a hat-trick and other goals coming from Bird and Crowe. The Under-16s found the going tough at Thorpe and went down 6-1 in the League Cup with their goal coming from Mayes. The Under-10B side drew 2-2 at Thetford (Julian and J. Barratt) and the Under-9s suffered two defeats – 4-1 against Wymondham (White) and 2-0 against Jex. This Sunday the Under-16s are home to Norman (Memorial Field 2 p.m), the Under-15s visit Wymondham Youth, the Under-14s are home to Thorpe (Old Hall School 10.30), the Under-13s visit Firside, the Under 12s are home to Hellesdon (Old Hall School 2 p.m), the Under-11s visit Costessey and the Under-10A side play Costessey and Poringland at Little Melton School.