Watsonians on Ice.

With overnight temperatures dipping below freezing and rumours of other games across the Lothians cancelled due to frost, it was touch and go whether Tipperlinn would be playable. Thankfully M3s captain Rob had been down early doors with his kettle and scraper to clear any signs of ice. And with the addition of some welcome winter sunshine the pitch was thawed just in time for the afternoon's events.

Following 2 wins for the men's sides at Tipperlinn earlier in the day, the pressure was on L4s to make it a hat trick of victories. From the off, it was clear this was not going to be an easy task with our youthful opponents, Inverleith 3s, proving themselves to be speedy and dangerous on the break. Our ever so slightly older legs not quite up to pace, Watsonians were going to have to rely on skill. A novel approach.

As always the midfield were working hard to carry the ball up the pitch, with Katie G, Holly and Ashley making some excellent runs into the opposition's D. It wasn't long before Olivia found the back of the net to put sonians 1-0 up. Then soon after, Liv again found herself in space to receive the ball, doing what she does best by winding round the Inverleith defence to slam it into goal and give L4s a 2-0 lead. Not too comfortable though as Inverleith took advantage of Watsonians unusually sloppy coverage of the middle of the park to drive forward and score.

Luckily we had some youth of our own in the shape of Katie G who scored a third for the home side. Some say it happened so fast that if you blinked you'd have missed it. (Others may just have been looking for their water bottle at the time, momentarily taking their eyes off the game. But they do say hydration is key to success).

As the 1st half drew to a close, Inverleith upped the intensity and were awarded with a second goal much to the frustration of the sonians defensive unit. Half time and the score was 3-2. Just to reiterate the score was 3-2. Yes Watsonians had indeed scored 3 goals.

With a precarious one goal lead, Watsonians knew they had to tighten up their structure in the second half. The defence pushed high with Carly and Becca offering support to the midfield and breaking down any challenges from Inverleith. Throughout the second half Watsonians were knocking on the door but just couldn't seem to convert any chances into goals. As the full time whistle approached, it was getting nervy as the visitors looked to make one final push for an equaliser, testing our defence with several troublesome attacks. Five minutes to full time and the crowd (a record 6 in attendance) were on tenterhooks as a break from Watsonians saw the ball travel back up to the other end. Ashley sent it flying into the D right towards Jodie who was poised by the post ready to pounce on any ball that came her direction. Not one to disappoint the fans, she dutifully dinked it into goal extending our lead to 2 goals with minutes to spare. As the saying goes it's not over until it's...well...over and a final short corner for Watsonians saw Holly coolly strike the ball straight into the bottom right corner of goal. There was barely time to make it back to the halfway line before the final whistle sounded. Another victory for Watsonians 4s in their latest East District 2 instalment.

Final score 5-2. MoM (by popular vote) Becca. As for DoD, some people may say it should go to the captain that didn't know the HT score but those people didn't write the match report sooo...this week it again goes to Holly and her fashion forward white joggers. Special mention to Lucie for doing a fantastic job in goals with a broken finger (!) and thanks to Iain for umpiring.