Back to the Wall — Display Results in 3 Points

Today was our 4th game of the season, against Cotgrave. Before the game, we had Jessie and Lily drop out due to illness — hopefully they’ll be back to full health soon. With the addition of Isabelle from the U13s, we started the game with a bare 11, which was going to be tough, especially as Cotgrave had a squad of 15.

Down to the Bare Bones

It was a very even game from the start, with the majority of the first 15 minutes being played between the two defences. We had a couple of corners without really testing their keeper. But suddenly we were down to 10, as Naomi went in for a tackle and seemed to clash knees, but stayed down. She had to come off, complaining she’d twisted her knee. This meant the task of getting anything was going to be harder, but the girls dug in and battled as best they could. Then Alice needed to come off, so we were temporarily down to 9. Thankfully, after a few minutes off, Alice was back on.

Against the Odds

Shortly after this, a run by Alice down the left gave her the chance to cross, and the keeper seemed to leave it to roll across her goal, which allowed an alert Isabelle to bundle the ball into the net. This spurred on Cotgrave, but we were equal to their attacks, through the outstanding defence of Layla, Georgie, Katie and Freya. If they were bypassed, Hollie in goal was ready, and blocked, cleared or grabbed the ball.

We went in at half time, 1 up. As a team, the girls had given everything they could for each other. We told them: more of the same, and who knew what could happen. They took those words and went out with a renewed determination.

Sealing the Win

The game ebbed and flowed, with Charliee filling into midfield, and Cheska running the line all by herself, with support from Isabelle and Alice wide. Isabelle found Cheska running through, who was eventually tripped in the box. Up stepped Charliee and banished the miss from the previous week with an emphatic penalty goal.

There was still time for Alice, Charliee and Cheska to link up and break the Cotgrave offside trap, to get a couple of shots off, but none found the back of the net unfortunately. As the game went on, Cotgrave started having shots from distance, that thankfully were either stopped by Hollie or drifted wide.

Finally the whistle went, and we’d managed to get a 2-0 win, with a first clean sheet of the season for Hollie, which she deserved for all her hard work over the last few weeks. The coaching team couldn’t give Player of the Match to just one player, as they all played out of their skins, so we gave it to the whole team.