Our first away game of this season saw the U11 girls take on the Leicester City Ladies U11 Girls. We had a good squad of 10 players which allowed Coach Tony to continue to see where players are best suited. The girls are really showing significant strength in their positions and developing effective teamwork, which is great to see.
Rugby Town started strongly and played with determination and grit, in what was quite a physical game for all players. There was lots of movement around the pitch with the girls listening well to Coach Tony to make space when in attack and ensuring effective opposition marking when in defence. The girls are really starting to think ahead during the game and their passing is becoming more accurate, which is resulting in the team being able to play forward and attack.
Evie had a great game on the right wing, her commitment was second to none. Evie and Natasha worked exceptionally well in the first half putting together a fantastic string of passes which left the opposition standing! Natasha showed some great turns of speed and was keen to get the ball towards the goal as much as possible.
The midfield players had a much stronger week, with clear consideration to formation and position. Still a little to work on, especially pulling back to defend, but improvements are being seen each week. Hannah had a strong week again, always in the thick of the action and delivered some very effective crosses. Mia gave a committed performance in both midfield and defence and caused the opposition players difficulty. Amy worked hard and covered more distance this week, she also provided some very good throw ins. Evelina had to work hard against a couple of skillful players, she made some good space in midfield that allowed the ball to be moved forward in a well thought out manner.
Defensively, Rugby Town showed their usual determination and strength and put a huge amount of effort keeping Leicester away from their goal. Issy provided another much needed solid performance, Leicester were unable to shake her off and she forced a number of errors which was very useful for Rugby Town. Ellie had good periods, with some heavy tackling and clearances. Ella was determined that Leicester would not get past her and displayed great marking and effective tackles. Sophia provided clear communication today which helped the defence massively, she made some great saves and continues to prove to be a very safe pair of hands in goal.
There were a number of corners throughout the game and Rugby Town did very well both in defending, with productive clearances and attacking, making the Leicester team defend hard.
Rugby Town U11’s should be very proud of their performance this week. Coach Tony has ideas for training that will benefit the players in their home game next week.
Player of the week awarded to Evie for sheer effort and also for some very clever passing and assists.