Under 13s Reports Archive (December)

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Under 13s v. Lewes (Result 1-1 ) League - 04/12/04

 

Being reduced to 9 players on the morning of the match called for some drastic action. I therefore stayed in Worthing whilst everyone else went off to the game. My mission? Hunt down Gemma!

 

I knew which road she lived in but some quick detective work led me eventually to her. Gemma agreed to play and we shot off in search of the rest of the team.

 

With 10 players we thought we would have a good chance.

 

The game started a little late as the council had not brought the nets to the ground and once we got going it was evident that Lewes were much improved from the team we had played a few weeks earlier.

 

We were struggling to close them down early enough and Jenny was working hard to organise our unusual defensive formation. Hannah, playing in midfield for a change, could not stop herself from dropping back into her usual defensive role as Lewes kept on attacking.  I lost count of the number of corners we defended but we did not get flustered and were able to clear the ball out relatively easily.

 

Inevitably, though, we eventually conceded a goal following a corner when Kelly (playing in goal!) was unable to hold on to the ball and it was eventually scrambled in despite several attempts to clear it.

 

From this point on Lewes rarely got close to the goal as we started to get ourselves organised. Jane started to go on some of those long runs of hers and Chloe and Kirsty up front were starting to see a lot more of the ball.

 

Towards the end of the first half we were awarded a penalty and Chloe stepped up to take it. She did not look her usually confident self though as she hit the ball hard but straight at the keeper who knocked it away to her left.  What followed was possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen in a game involving Worthing BHA Girls’ F.C.  -  the Lewes players stood outside the penalty area applauding their keeper, Chloe stood by the penalty spot looking all forlorn and our remaining players stood still in disbelief. In the meantime the ball stopped in the mud on its way towards the corner. I swear I could hear the ball saying “come on then, come and get me!” then, all of a sudden there was a mass charge towards the ball as everyone realised it was still in play  - priceless.

 

In the second half Kelly came out of goal and we started to pressurise Lewes even more. This time it was our turn to have several corners. We had a lot of shots on goal as well, but the muddy conditions meant that the shots lacked power by the time they reached the Lewes keeper.  It looked like the equaliser was going to elude us but, with eight minutes of the match left,  a long ball of Wimbledon proportions was sent out from defence and over Chloe’s head. She ran on to it and ran for about 15 yards before calmly slotting the ball past the oncoming keeper from the edge of the penalty area. Chloe had made up for her earlier penalty miss and the smile had returned to her face. We were unlucky not to get a winner in the end but this would have been unfair on Lewes who deserved the draw for their excellent first half performance. It won’t be long before they get their first win and we wish them luck for the rest of the season.