Ambleside Falcons U12s v Rugby Town Girls U12s – Sunday 7th October
Sponsors: Lisa Collins Hair Design and Caring Help At Home Ltd
Rugby Town Squad: Sophia, Ella, Hannah (C) , Evie, Tasha, Izzy, Elle J, Ellie A, Kelsey
Both teams respectfully observed a minutes silence in memory of 18 year old Tom Jones.
Flying high on the back of 4 successive wins, Rugby were keen to add a 5th, knowing complacency could put a win at risk.
1st Half
The Rugby Town girls started strong and the early action of the game was contained to the Falcons half. Rugby were awarded a thrown in and 2 corners in the first 10 minutes of the game. Hannah delivered these with her usual display of skill but Rugby failed to convert these early chances.
Rugby continued with very positive play, especially down the right wing with Evie showing great effort and determination. The Falcons squeezed a break in and Rugby found themselves defending a quick counter attack. Izzy and Ella, in defence, were ready when needed and both looked confident today. The ball was cleared for a Falcons corner. With Sophia gaining masterful control of her goal mouth, Rugby dealt with the corner well.
Hannah was having a great game in her defensive midfield position, constantly breaking up play and providing lovely through balls and passes to the Rugby forwards. Rugby were now really piling on the pressure and it was only a matter of time before the Falcons succumbed to the pressure. Evie provided a lovely cross from the right wing, Elle J connecting perfectly to open the Rugby scoring.
Ambleside Falcons 0 – 1 Rugby Town
Tash, continuing her excellent form so far this season, was having a blast on the left wing. Lots of contact with the ball, working well with Elle J and Evie. Tash delivered a number of well thought out passes all the way through today’s game. A number of further opportunities arose for Evie, Elle J and Tash during the first half, but some below par first touches meant the score line stayed at 0-1.
Rugby maintained their dominance of the first half into the last 5 minutes. A brief run down to the Rugby goal was cleared well by Evie, who found Tash with virtually the whole pitch of space. Tash ran ¾ of the pitch, and keeping a cool head, found the net perfectly.
Ambleside Falcons 0 – 2 Rugby Town
From the restart Rugby were back up to the Falcons goal for a little bit of football pinball, where no one quote knowing who was doing what. Finally, the Falcons booted the ball clear.
The closing minutes of the game saw Rugby win a further 2 corners and although they missed the chance to convert, they maintained the calm pressure on the Falcons defence.
2nd Half
Ella in left back swapped out for Ellie and Elle J swapped out for Kelsey up front.
Rugby were out of the blocks quick with Tash and Kelsey working well to attack the Falcons goal, Kelsey just sending a shot wide of the post. The Falcons were visibly keen to try and even the scoring up and were much keener to run at the Rugby goal. Izzy and Ellie were called upon more in this half, with Ellie providing her strong, dependable clearances when needed, finding the Rugby midfields or forwards well.
Kelsey got caught on the wing in a hard tackle, winning a free kick and bravely taking it whilst clearly still sore. Ellie had an out of character but productive jaunt up the left wing, finding herself in bandit country, she passed cleanly to Kelsey and sensible beat a hasty retreat.
Hannah continued to provide great balls from the midfield, in particular, one through to Tash who went on to find Kelsey with a beautiful cross in from the right. Kelsey had the ball in the box but the Falcons, who by now, had decided to mercilessly mark Kelsey, shut her down and cleared the ball.
The Falcons were not really trying to turn the game around, and Rugby had a 10 minutes period where they were slightly on the back foot. Izzy delivered some great clearances during this period and read the game really well, positioning herself in the right spot at the right time.
The Falcons unleased a superb strike from the right, which was well parried by Sophia and cleared up field by Ellie.
Slowly, Rugby began pushing back and regaining their domination, winning successive throw ins, allowing them to make up ground. Evie, Tash Kelsey and Tash combined well to move into a threatening position, a little desperate defending by the Falcons lead to some confusion in the goalmouth. Rugby kept calm with perseverance, Tash lumped the ball into the net!
Ambleside Falcons 0 – 3 Rugby Town
Rugby were not sitting back, and kept pushing on the Falcons goal. An excellent throw in by Hannah found Kelsey down the wing. Kelsey ran at the Falcons defence, beating them and sending a soaring shot into the top left corner!
Ambleside Falcons 0 – 4 Rugby Town
The rest of the second half continued in a similar vein with the Falcons having few opportunities to threaten the Rugby goal. Evie had an excellent game today, constantly running to win the ball in midfield. Her awareness of the game was exemplary. She positioned herself perfectly to receive crosses on each and every Rugby attack.
The last few minutes saw a number of corners for Rugby, and most of the action either in or on the edge of the Falcons box. Finally and justifiably, her hard work paid off, and Evie received a brilliantly delivered thrown in by Tash, turned and scored with the final whistle blown a minute later
Ambleside Falcons 0 – 5 Rugby Town
Summary
A number of missed opportunities resulted in a lower score line than was possible. However defensively, Rugby were strong today and communication between players was good. All players showed confidence on the ball and their understanding of each other’s play and positioning is really starting to grow, which will only improve their team performance.
5 wins from 5, unbeaten and top of the league. Well done Rugby Town Girls U12s!
Thank you Tash for the excellent brownies !
Coaches Player of the Match – for a much improved performance and confident play throughout the game: Izzy
