Rugby Town U11s hosted Greentowers Hinckley U11 at Kilsby Lane for their Semi Final. Rugby Town were nervous having played, and lost, to Greentowers twice this season. The girls knew they would have to play their socks off.
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Squad: Ellie, Hannah, Amy, Izzy, Kelsey, Mia, Evie, Elle, Ava, Sophia
Greentowers were off from the first whistle and after a little back and forth in midfield, an attack pushed forward and, catching the Rugby defence wrong footed, unleashed a shot on target, that was fortunately just wide of the post.
Game play was quick, with lots of action being seen in midfield. Rugby had two throw ins in succession which were delivered well by Ellie A and Hannah respectively. Rugby did not really capitalise on these throw ins through and Greentowers were very quick to put the pressure straight back on Rugby.
A midfield scrambled ensued with possession back and forth between the two teams, finally Hannah delivered a lovely through ball, straight to Kelsey. Kelsey skipped past a defender and steered the ball to the right of the Greentowers keeper! Goal!
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 0
From the restart, Greentowers were immediately looking for their reply. Play was straight up to the Rugby defence and goal. Our defenders missed a couple of chances to clear and Greentowers were clinical in achieving their equaliser!
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 1
Upon restart, Elle J was working hard on the wing and midfield to generate a push forward. Greentowers resisted and won possession and Rugby needed Ellie A to clear into touch twice in as many minutes. Izzy had her work cut out in defence, but really tried her best to stick to some exceptionally fast Greentowers forwards.
Rugby thrown in by Ellie A was picked up by Evie who made a good run up the wing. Her cross into the centre was intercepted, and there followed another lighting quick run by Greentowers forcing another clearance into touch by Ellie A.
The Greentowers throw in was productive and allowed them a run on goal and another shot just wide of the goal. The Rugby goal kick was booted into touch by Greentowers. Ellie A took the throw in and Rugby were immediately dispossessed. Yet again, Greentowers made a charge and this time converted the opportunity
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 2
Greentowers were now relentless, and the restart saw another attack on the Rugby defence, this time the shot sailing over the crossbar. Rugby were now a little rattled by the intensity of play and had lost some of their smooth passing and dribbling we had seen over recent weeks. Another Rugby throw in taken by Hannah was picked up by Rugby, but lost to Greentowers. Two well times passes saw the ball once again dangerously close to the Rugby goal. Luckily, the strike was soft enough for Sophia to gather up.
Evie was solid on the wing, and showed great commitment in dropping back to support the team under significant pressure from the opposition. Her positioning in today’s game was very good and on another day, Evie would certainly have had several opportunities to score.
Sophia supplied a good goal kick up to the left wing. Greentowers kicked it out and Hannah took the thrown in. Again, Greentowers swooped in to gain possession forced Rugby into making yet another crucial clearance for a Greentowers throw in.
End to end play continued throughout the rest of the half with numerous throw ins from both Rugby and Greentowers. Rugby, although delivered well, did not capitalise on the throw ins a lost possession. This is a focus for Friday’s training session.
Ellie A was called upon to ensure several clearances, one of which shot through the midfield and found Kelsey, who turn, ran and had a shot on goal, which was safely caught by the Greentowers keeper.
The ball kicked straight back down the pitch, collected by Greentowers and shot on target saved by Sophia. Back in Midfield where Hannah was working hard to gain and retain possession, not for want of effort, Hannah, without support, was overwhelmed by two Greentowers players who ran straight at the Rugby goal.
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 3
The half time talk consisted of encouragement and a request to see a bit more of the fire that the U11s have been playing with in recent weeks. Water consumer, it was back into the fray.
Fresh legs in defensive midfield and on the wing with Mia and Ava saw a strong start from Mia. Ava and Mia teamed up several times with some nice passes, unfortunately a very strong Greentower defence making extremely hard for Rugby to gain any meaningful ground.
As in the first half, Rugby struggled in retaining possession from throw ins and Greentowers were quick to capitalise on this again and were happy to pile on the pressure. The Greentowers team also had a lightning quick counter attack which Rugby did struggle with.
Amy picked up a painful injury by bravely intercepting a ball with her face, which I don’t think was intentional. Luckily, no serious injuries but Amy was subbed out for Ellie A to return in defence.
Restart for Rugby saw a throw in delivered by Mia, Ava picked up the ball and had a lovely run up the wing. Rugby’s charge as cleared by Greentowers for a corner. Hannah delivered a lovely kick and Rugby were unlucky not to get on the end of it. Greentowers cleared and again, displaying their deadly counter attack, were too quick for Rugby, beat the defence and scored,
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 4
A busy few minutes followed the restart with possession now much more equal and Rugby finding a period of better ball control and momentum. Nevertheless, Greentowers again were impressive with their defence and showed impressive skills to work the ball downfield for another shot on the Rugby goal, just wide of the mark.
The Greentowers onslaught continued with opposition showing determination and great ball skills and they weren’t done with Rugby yet. Rugby were valiant in their efforts, and the football they were now playing was actually better than the first half. Sadly, we left it a little late in the day to make a mark on a very strong Greentowers side.
Two particular attacks by Greentowers in a 5 minute period saw the ball hit the cross bar and Sophia saved the second. The goal kick was quickly picked up by Sophia, who was caught off her line.
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 5
Impressively, Rugby were still fighting, chasing balls, and prepared to tackle. The final 5 minutes saw a number of throw ins, several switches of possession and unfortunately, another goal by an overwhelming Greentowers
Rugby Town 1 – Greentowers 6
U11’s, I am so proud of what you have achieved this year. To get through to the final 4 in this cup run, in your first season playing together is truly fantastic. Each and every one of you is a star!
We wish the very impressive Greentowers side all the best in their final against Royce Rovers next week.
For the U11, it is onwards on to the schools tournaments next week and then several tournaments over the summer. I can’t wait 🙂
Rugby Town U11s 1 – Greentowers Hinckley U11s 6
Captain – Kelsey
Coaches Player of the Match: for strong defensive clearances in the second half and superb thrown ins – Ellie
Parents Player of the Match: for work rate and getting the first goal past Greentowers this season – Kelsey