The first weekend of the new season saw Keswick Ladies 1st team beat Kirkby Stephen 3rds 2-0 at home.
The opening minutes were very cagey with both teams trying to retain possession and gain the upper hand.
Kirkby’s Hannah Sowerby made the first couple of telling breaks from midfield, but Keswick’s Pippa Simpson thwarted her both times.
On seven minutes Keswick took the lead through Myrtle Ashworth, whose shot from the right of the D beat four Kirkby defenders and the keeper to end up in the left corner of the goal.
Both defences played well for the rest of the half, and though both teams pressed forward, the only other real chance fell to Keswick, but the strike on goal ended up wide of the mark.
The second half saw Keswick start to dominate possession, with newcomer Emily McDonald and Rachel Armstrong starting to make more runs from defence to put a strain on the Kirkby midfield.
This stretched them and allowed Keswick’s own midfield to make runs to which the Kirby defence had to respond. It finally gave the Keswick attack a bit more room to exploit.
Eleven minutes into the half, Keswick increased their lead through Kat Miller.
Kirkby kept pressing with Linda Johnstone making some good runs from midfield, but the home defence was equal to the task, and with no more goals Keswick took their first points.
