This was our first game of the season,
preparation had been made the week before with Gary “GShore” Hogg showing us
his attacking and defending strategies. We needed maximum preparation for the
biggest game of the season against Tyne Met as this result last year ended in a
14-0 defeat and the reverse was 11-0.
Everyone was up for the game with a quick
team selfie, not so quick when you have Gary trying to work the camera, and a
warm-up we then lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Gary’s managerial tactics
coming to light, and with a sudden transfer of Alex Friskney in as goal keeper
the night before we didn’t know how this game was going to end up.
The game started off very even with both
teams having equal possession, which was surprising for us considering previous
results, with just their number 10 playing a free role providing us with a
challenge. She wasn’t afraid to shoot from 21 yards out but with nothing to
show for it. They had a few good chances but with an excellent save from Alex
to block the shot into the top right corner we knew we had to up the pace. Great
play from Emma on the left hand side put a great through ball for Kelsey who
had a good chance to put us 1-0 up when she broke through the defence beating
the opposition for pace and striking the ball just wide of the right post.
The end of the first half was near and both
teams had had equal opportunities to score with possession around 52%-48% to us,
obviously. With an inspirational 5 minute team talk from Gaz we were ready for
the second half. We lined-up with the same formation and straight away broke
away onto goal from the right hand side with Charlotte Feather getting through
the gap in the defence. The strike was saved by the keeper and we were awarded
a corner, something in which the manager had be prioritising in training the
week before for a good 40 minutes, so we knew we had a chance to put his theory
to the test. The short corner was taken and a good cross in from Kate provided
a chance for Charlotte Firth to have a shot on goal but was deflected by their
defender.
Their left full back and winger were
linking up well but with excellent defending from Bethany Dean it proved
difficult for them to cross the ball in. They then had to try and go down the
middle where Eliesha was strong and put in some good tackles to win us back the
ball. From a defending perspective we were very strong with everyone putting in
a great effort and closing down the ball to limit the shots. However, as we
focused too much on defending we had no-one upfront to get us the goal to put
us in front. We cleared the ball, which was given to their right-winger, she
attempted to cut inside but with an excellent tackle from Kaye it went out for
a corner.
In the final minutes of the game we knew we
had to stay tight and mark our players. The ball was crossed in but with a good
header they managed to get it into the top left corner, if I was a few inches
taller I could have cleared the ball off the line.
With an all-round good performance and
managing to concede 13 goals less than last year Gary was very happy with the
result.
Attendance: 4
(Wo)Man of the Match: Bethany Dean.
Team: Alex Friskney, Bethany Dean, Bethany
Edgar, Aimee Black, Kaye Deighton, Eliesha Singh, Amber Hemming (capt), Emma
Tummelty, Charlotte Firth, Charlotte Feather, Kate Merryweather.
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