January 2nd 1999, Women's League Division One - South
Both teams went into this fixture needing to win to keep up the pressure on Cardiff Comets at the top of the league, and it was the Zodiacs who seemed keener from the start. The play was all in the Cobras defensive zone, and it was only a matter of time before the pressure told, with Oxford's player of the game Karen Featonby opening the scoring after a scramble in front of the Chelmsford goal.
This seemed to calm the Cobras somewhat, and whilst under pressure for the rest of the period Oxford were unable to break through, and went into the first break with the 1-0 lead despite outshooting Chelmsford 13-5.
The second stanza saw more of the same, as Oxford's game plan seemed to be to get plenty of shots on Dani DeVito in the Cobra's net though bodies, and to pick up the rebounds. This was paying dividends, and they hit the jackpot just over halfway though the game with two goals in a minute - both from scrambles, and both from Karen Featonby. Again Cobras were able to regroup, and before the end of the period had reduced the deficit to 3-1 with Emma Stott grabbing the goal following some sustained Chelmsford pressure.
Into the third period, and the Cobras had to strike early to get back into the game, however it wasn't to be, and Oxford's Featonby grabbed her, and her side's fourth goal from the side of the net. Cobras then used their time-out, and whilst they were able to apply more pressure to the Zodiac's net, they only had a single goal, from player of the game Katy Allen to show for it.
The two teams meet again on Saturday January 9th, at Riverside, starting at 5:15pm - when Chelmsford will be eager to get their revenge.
Scoring:
Oxford City: Karen Featonby 4+0(0), Sarah Poulter 0+3(0), Becky Hughes 0+1(0), Louise Thompson 0+0(2)
Chelmsford: Katy Allen 1+0(0), Emma Stott 1+0(0), Jen Stedman 0+0(2)