The Ladies 3s made the long trip north to play fourth place Banbury 4s in a bid to cement third place in the league.

Missing their manager, the ladies were less organised than usual before the game and seemed to carry this disorganisation onto the pitch, conceding a p-flick in only the third minute of the game. Despite Sharky’s best efforts, the Banbury forward managed to convert, to the obvious delight of the home side who were pumped up for the occasion.

The team managed to pick themselves up from this early disappointment and spent most of the first half defending against a young, quick Banbury side. The personnel in defence were rearranged again this week and took a little time to adjust to their roles but the midfield defended well and did their best to relieve the pressure - notably with some super driving runs from Izzy Wise and Laura Hodder.

Unfortunately, with the low sun making it difficult to differentiate between the orange of P&R and the red shirts of the opposition, there were too many easy balls given away all over the pitch and we found it difficult to bring the wide players into the game. The ladies relied on Sharky’s solid keeping, including a series of four saves on the bounce, to take them into the break only 1 goal behind.

After constructive words and reviving Gummy Bears, it was a rejuvenated team that took to the field for the second half. With the sun now in P&R’s favour and the half time instruction to come to meet the ball, Phoenix started to build their play, working the formation and making full use of the wide players and forwards. Rhian Evans had a superb game at Sweeper and managed to intercept a lot of Banbury ball and redistribute to the midfield.

It wasn’t long before the rejuvenated P&R stunned the opposition with two goals in quick succession from Jane Marriot-Ball and Tiffany Saul - the second coming within minutes of the first - and a chance for a third send just wide by the excellent debutant Chantal Facchetti.

Banbury were obviously frustrated by the turn in events and the rest of the game was played over the full length of the pitch with every single P&R player running themselves ragged in attack and defence. When the final whistle went, it was relief and exhaustion all round - along with jubilation at opening up a 9 point lead over their closest rivals.

Well Done Ladies