Bishops Stortford 2 - Kinja Rockets 4.
Kinja rockets fought their way into the Hertfordshire county cup final with a hard fought victory on Saturday morning in a sunny Bishops Stortford.
The pitch was in perfect condition which suits the Kinja way of playing and within the first 5 minutes both Nicole and Guste had efforts saved by the keeper after good work on both flanks by both Indie on the right and Bella on the left but the keeper was equal to the efforts.
With 11 minutes gone the rockets were awarded a free kick 20 yards from goal and Nicole stepped forward and curled a beautiful effort just past the far post with the keeper well beaten and rooted to the spot.
The rockets attempted to play slick passing football but their play was broken up regularly by several robust challenges and the challenges were resulting in long balls being cleared upfield which in turn put the rockets rearguard under pressure and after 18 minutes the pressure took its toll and Stortford opened the scoring, a long punt upfield was chased into the right channel were the ball was whipped into the area and under pressure the rockets keeper Anna was unable to make good contact with the ball and the loose ball fell to a Stortford striker who hit a shot goal wards from 6 yards and Anna done well to recover and make a save but the ball squirmed under her body and into the net to give Stortford the lead.
The lead didn't last long as on 22 minutes the impressive Guste won possession in midfield and turned defence into attack with a defence splitting pass and Nicole raced with a Stortford defender and as Nicole reached the ball she cut inside onto her right foot and fired into the top left hand corner past the keeper to deservedly equalise. 
The rockets then took the lead shortly after when Alex played a beautiful pass from deep in the rockets half into the left channel, Bella ran onto the pass and with her 1st touch she curled a low cross across the face of the Stortford goal where the defender who was under pressure from Nicole had to deal with the ball and unfortunately for her she poked the ball past her own goalkeeper to put the rockets 2-1 to the good.
The rockets became very sloppy at times, conceding possession in good positions by taking several foul throws, waiting for the ball to arrive at their feet as opposed to going to meet the ball and this was giving Stortford the opportunity to win the ball and set them off on the counter attack.
On the stroke of halftime Stortford got the equaliser that their hard work deserved, Kasey conceded a foul in the centre circle and the resulting kick was again launched forward but as the rockets central defenders allowed the ball to bounce a Stortford forward sneaked round the back and slipped the ball under the advancing Anna for the equalising goal and the scores remained level going into the break.
The 2nd half had a similar pattern to the 1st with the rockets poor passing presenting Stortford with the opportunity to clear upfield and put Regan and Alex under pressure but the pair along with Anna they dealt with the threat quite well.
With 60 minutes played a strange sequence of events took place, Indie had a shot on goal blocked with the use of a hand and as the rebound fell to Nicole she put her effort into the far corner and the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the centre circle but with the referees assistants intervention the match official changed his mind and awarded the rockets a penalty kick. Nicole took the resulting kick and despite sending the goalkeeper the wrong way the ball bobbled agonisingly wide and the score stayed at 2-2.
Within minutes of the penalty Indie had a great chance to give the rockets the lead as she rounded the Stortford keeper and as her shot rolled towards the goal the ball was cleared to safety.
Player of the match Guste then produced a moment of magic on 73 minutes when she side stepped a challenge in midfield a struck a belter into the top left hand corner to put the rockets 3-2 ahead but the rockets still had 7 minutes to play and knew with Stortfords direct style of play then they are still capable of the equaliser that would see the tie go into extra time.
That goal seemed to knock the wind out of the Stortford sails and 2 minutes later Nicole got her 2nd of the game and the rockets all important 4th when Aimee and Mia B linked up well on the right wing, Mia B sent a perfect cross over the keepers head and Nicole was on hand to side foot the volley into the net at the far post to ensure a spot in the final.
Team
Anna, Regan, Alex, Mia G, Aimee, Jess, Kasey, Guste, Nicole, Mia B, Indie, Lillian, Audrey, Bella.