Rugby Town U11s welcomed Oadby Owls to a pleasantly mild Kilsby Lane today. Thanks to last week’s snow, combined with the additional rain this week, meant the pitch had seen better days.
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Standing water in a few places caused both teams issues with the ball stopping dead during passes and I fear for the lives of numerous washing machines this afternoon!
Rugby Town worked hard on passing and counter attack in Friday training, so the team were keen to put this practice into action today and get the ball up field quicker. Team instructions were for confident decision making and communication.
Rugby started confidently with good movement on the ball. Passing as a whole was much better this week and I was very impressed throughout the entire game with how the team are holding their positions and using the space on the pitch well. The improvements in these areas are clear to see and the team should be really pleased with how they are translating training time to games.
Izzy, Ella, Ellie and Amy all had periods in defence. All four girls played with positivity. Izzy and Ella have a strong partnership, covering each other well and reading the game effectively. The defenders all had good communication between themselves and keeper Sophia.
It is a pleasure to watch Sophia commanding the goal mouth during corners, she is a very able keeper indeed and her passion for what she does is clear to all who watch her.
Ellie made some very strong clearances today and was much more confident on the ball, making for some much more effective football. Amy had to cover an intense period of pressure from Oadby and I was pleased to see she was happy to get into the action with some decisive tacking.
Hannah and Mia alternated in the defensive midfield positions, which is one of the harder positions on the legs. Both of the girls were fantastic, and I couldn’t ask any more from them.
Hannah is really blooming in this position and her confidence on the ball improves week on week. One particularly well timed and well thought our pass forward straight down the wing resulted in a positive result for Rugby,
Mia’s commitment this position is in no doubt. I was especially delighted by a several minute period just before half time when Mia was determined to get the ball, never stopping with continual tackles and a steely nerve rewarded with possession.
Elle and Tasha provided some very strong displays on the wing, with some fine football skills being displayed. Impressive confidence on the ball was only tempered by a couple of occasion of needing an earlier release of the ball.
We have been working on decision making in training and I know this skill will keep on improving with practice.
Elle and Tasha combined very well with Kelsey up front, with all three putting a good number of passes and combination play together. They are all reading each other’s play well, and were moving much better to provide space and open up the pitch.
All three girls were confident in their tackles and were keen to run at the opposition, not allowing themselves to be intimidated by a wall of defenders. Considering the pitch conditions, I was very impressed with their willingness to dribble around the opposition rather than relying on risky passes.
I am really pleased with how the girls performed and they were unlucky that the woodwork denied them on a few occasions. They are translating our training activities very well into the games and their confidence and enjoyment of the game continues to grow.
There will be refresher training on counter attacking as well as corner / throw in defence on Friday in preparation of our first round cup game next week.
Captain – Hannah
Coaches Player of the Match: for excellent play in the defensive midfield position, displaying constant tenacity and fantastic forward play: Hannah
Parents Player of the Match: for great effort and work rate and displaying tight controlled defensive marking: Izzy