Under 13s Reports Archive (September)

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Under 13s v. Crawley Wasps (Result 2-2) League - 18/09/04

 

Seeing the look of disappointment on the girls’ faces as they left the pitch is proof enough of how much they have progressed in the last couple of years. Two years ago we were elated to have been the only club to take a point from Crawley. This time, though, there was a general look of disappointment as the players left the pitch thinking of what they had almost achieved. This was the Crawley team who last season,  in the seven-a-side leagues, had won both the East & West Divisions. We played so well and thoroughly deserved to win. Unfortunately it was not to be.

 

Having got our season off to a tremendous start last week, in a match of only 20 minutes each way, we were a little unfortunate to have to play last seasons double league champions in our next match. Darryl’s master tactic of sending our girls to the far goal to warm up paid dividends though as we started the first half with a strong wind on our backs.

 

Crawley did not start as strongly as we anticipated and, with the wind behind us, we were pushing them back into their own half . In fact, they were struggling to keep us at bay. It was no surprise then when, after going on a strong run down the right, Sophie cut in and hit a superb shot from outside the box. The ball went like a bullet but sadly hit the bottom of the near post and rebounded out. She was very unlucky not to get onto the score sheet with that one.

 

We continued to pile on the pressure and after 11 minutes Crawley once again had to clear their lines. This time though the ball went to Jane on the half way line. She took two or three paces forwards, looked up and shot from inside the centre circle. The ball sailed straight back over the heads of the Crawley players and into the top centre of the goal. The keeper had no chance.

 

A few minutes later we went two  up when Jane’s long throw found Kirsty in the penalty area, in amongst several Crawley defenders it has to be said. Kirsty was the first to react though and hit a good shot on the turn. Holly and Chloe were causing all sorts of problems in the Crawley defence and Jane, Kayleigh, Sophie and Celia were constantly getting forward to create more chances for our forwards. When the ball did get through to Jess, she she was launching it straight back into their half and on one or two occasions the ball went straight to their keeper with just one bounce!

 

Unfortunately, just before the break, Crawley got a goal back when they scored on the break. They had been getting stronger as the half wore on, probably because they were able to make regular substitutions.

 

The second half started with our girls again putting Crawley under pressure but the strong wind soon took its toll and they started to spread the play more with intelligent use of their exceptionally strong wingers. Our defence did not let us down though and we contained them very well. They were finding it very hard to get near our penalty area. The defensive unit of Hannah, Jenny, Kayleigh and Megan have already bonded well. They do not allow the opposition to have too much time on the ball and are always  backing each other up.  I am constantly amazed at the amount of ground that Hannah covers during a game and at speed when required. On two or three occasions in the half Crawley managed to break through only to find Hannah hot on their heals before they even had time to look up.

 

I couldn’t see Crawley getting an equaliser but after a series of three or four corners we just lost concentration for a minute and they got one back. We didn’t give up though and were never in danger again after that.

 

I am not going to pick a player of the match as I think you all deserve it. Well played!!

Under 13s v. JC Tackleway (Result 0-6) League - 26/09/04

 

Unfortunately, with a small squad, when we have players missing it is always going to be hard to win games.  That said, this result was a little harsh as, in each half, we let two goals in during the last five minutes or so.

 

Down to 9 players, we started the game very brightly. After about 5 minutes we were awarded a free kick down the right side and close to the edge of the penalty area. The girls left Chloe to try her luck and she bent a tremendous shot over the defensive wall. Unluckily for Chloe the ball went just over the crossbar as it started to dip wickedly.

 

Some tremendous defending by Celia, Hannah, Jenny and Megan led to Tackleway trying to shoot from too far out and they were unable to get their shots on target. Jess was having trouble finding her own players from the goal kicks as, for every player trying to help her get the ball through, there appeared to be two Tackleway players alongside them. Jess had to resort to kicking the ball down the sidelines and more often than not the ball was going out for a Tackleway throw. It was the best that we could do given the overcrowding effect of being two players short.

 

Tackleway’s first goal came around the half-way point of the half and they didn’t score again until the 34 and 35th minutes, just as we were beginning to tire.

 

In the second half we conceded a fourth goal early on but again settled down well and began causing Tackleway a few problems. Having suffered in the first half with sore feet caused by the bumpy pitch, Sophie began to get into the game a little more. She was starting to get a few more tackles in but it was becoming obvious that she still wasn’t right (with two minutes to go she revealed that she wasn’t feeling well and after the game she said that she had been feeling like it for the whole match but was not going to let the team down).

 

Jane was starting to get into the game and one strong run saw her break down the left wing and cut in to shoot. Unluckily the ball bobbled around a bit and she was unable to get a strong shot at goal and the keeper was able to gather the ball.

 

Jess was getting upset as the Tackleway number nine kept stepping in front of her as she was about to drop kick the ball. This happened at least eight or nine times in the second half but the referee only warned the player once and did nothing on the two occasions when the ball actually hit the striker on her back. It was a little disappointing as apart from these incidents the game was being played in an excellent spirit.

 

Unlucky Kirsty, was feeling lonely in her role up front but she showed one or two nice touches when laying the ball off to Chloe. It was never going to be easy for her.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Tackleway scored two late goals to put a misleading score on the board. I am sure that it will be a lot closer when we meet again in Worthing.

 

Again it is difficult picking a player of the match with good performances throughout the team. Chloe was superb in midfield (out of position) Hannah’s running in defence was plugging the holes when they appeared and Jenny was excellent in the tackle and marshalled the defence superbly. I think she has been watching Danny Cullip too much! This week though I feel the award has to go to Jane. She just didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.