Sunday 18th October
Squad: Ellie, Tasha, Evie, Ava (Captain), Sophia K, Hannah, Izzy, Cara, Kelsey Priya, Robyn, Sophie, Kelsey
Sponsor: Lisa Collins Hair Design
Rugby Town travelled up the A426 to Blaby, still chasing the first points of the season. Blaby’s results have been strong so far this season, so a tough game was on the cards for the 2pm kick off.
1st Half
Blaby set the tone of the game early running attacks from kick off, allowing Rugby no time to settle. Rugby regained possession and moved up the right wing only to see Blaby win back possession in midfield, carve Rugby down the middle of the pitch and open their scoring with an early goal.
Rugby were obliged to defend hard and some very quick Blaby forwards had the wind in their sails and were on the hunt for their second goal. A Rugby corner was cleared by Blaby who shot back down field for 2 shots in a couple of minutes, some excellent saves from Sophia keeping the score line at 1 – 0.
Rugby won a free kick from an excitable Blaby tackle but couldn’t develop any particular threat against Blaby. 2 successive throws in from Rugby saw them gain some ground before Blaby intercepted Rugby’s play and deliver a great through ball, a 1 on 1 with the keeper and their second goal.
Blaby’s quick and physical play was causing issues for Rugby and Blaby were able to have several shots on goal over the next few minutes. Again, Sophia making some great saves from both shots from play and from a Blaby corner.
Robyn and Sophia K switched position to allow a more defensive line up. Robyn making some very good clearances with her head. Rugby continue to be a little too polite in their play which Blaby took full advantage of. 15 minutes in, an unfortunate Rugby handball lead to a Blaby penalty, which happily hit the upright. Blaby kept the pressure on, and Sophia again make to very good saves in quick succession.
Evie was slap bang in midfield, away from her usual right-wing position. Evie had a lot of work to do trying to stop the Blaby side from breaking the lines. Evie was good at forcing the Blaby team to pass out to the wings providing a small breather for the Rugby defence.
Ella, Cara, Sophia K and Robyn were very busy with their defensive duties today and certainly covered some miles in the first half. They were putting in lots of effort, but the speed of the Blaby forwards, especially their numbers 12 and 14, proved too much on several occasions allowing Blaby through the Rugby lines. Hannah and Tash were lacking in provision to the frenetic activity in midfield and defence, but when on the ball, were trying hard to create some productive play and deliver the ball through to Kelsey.
Both Hannah and Tash were having to drop back quite deep to support the Rugby defence, and Cara and Hannah were starting to work well together and reduce the risk of a Blaby strike. Sophia K connected will with the ball and played forward well to Kelsey who had a good run onto goal, just seeing her shot run wide of the target. Blaby back on the attack put together a great run, their pace and passing beating Rugby fair and square for their 3rdof the game.
Blaby’s passing game was very strong and they were happy to pass back, regroup and go again at the Rugby goal, proving to much for Rugby and over the next 10 mins the 4thgoal as well as a smack against the cross bar saw Blaby extend their lead.
In the final minutes Rugby won a free kick, which was a little far out on the right side of the pitch. Hannah stepped up and delivered a great free kick straight towards the top right of the goal, only the very fingertips of the Blaby keeper denying Rugby their opening goal. This Rugby opportunity seemed to annoy Blaby who ran literally back down the pitch for their 5th and final goal of the half.
2nd Half
The Rugby half time talk basically consisted of a request for the players to stop being so nice and win the ball. A 5-player change saw fresh legs and a desire to give Blaby a bit more of a game in the second half. Play started more positively with Blaby not having such a free run.
Rugby’s back 3 of Izzy, Sophie and Ella playing deeper in this half which meant that despite providing a little more room for Blaby, meant they weren’t losing the very quick Blaby players who were proving very adept at working the offside trap to their advantage with their quicker players.
Blaby mounted another attack with Sophia producing another fine save. Sophia’s kick generated a push from Rugby who earned 2 corners in quick succession for their efforts. Neither corner bore fruit for Rugby, but it was good to see play in the Blaby goalmouth.
Play continue back and forth. Blaby, although still in control of the game, were not quite getting the opportunities they had in the first half. Ellie had a great shot from distance and was unlucky to see the ball just wide of the right hand upright. Blaby also saw a couple of their shots wide as they game continued its frenetic pace.
Rugby were now starting to mount a slight pushback against Blaby, Kelsey found some space and her shot, just lacking a little power, was collected by the keeper. A Blaby free kick caused no problems for Rugby, but their very productive crosses were. One of them found the head of a Blaby player, and a very good header scored Blaby their 6th.
Blaby, again on the ascendancy, were using the wings effectively and sticking in crosses as much as they could. Good positional play from a cross from the right was tapped into the net by a lurking Blaby player in a great position on the far post. Goal 7 for Blaby.
Rugby kicked off, and to their credit, were still working hard to salvage something of the game, this positivity is great to see. Kelsey, Ellie and Priya combined and, moving forward, allowed Kelsey to release a shot which was parried by the Blaby keeper, to the feet of Priya who took full advantage and opened Rugby’s score line.
Upon the restart, the pace of the game remained relentless and a heavy tackle on Ellie saw her awarded a free kick which was subsequently cleared by Blaby. Back down and an easy collection from Sophia provided another change for Rugby to get forward. Sophia’s goal kick sailed upfield and some pretty nice combination work of Ellie, Kelsey and Ava resulted in Kelsey scoring Rugby’s second of the game.
Briefly it looks as if Rugby was on for a resurgence, alas, Blaby were not content with winning by 5 goals, and found 6th gear. Their pace, so far into the game should be commended and their passing game at times was a pleasure to watch. Sadly, their very well-schooled performance resulted in the ball being parked in the back of the Rugby goal a further 3 times before the end of the game.
Summary
Blaby and Whetstone 10 – 2 Rugby Town
2 second half goals showed that Rugby can score against stronger teams when the put their minds to it and concentrate on their linked play. Blaby are a strong and confident team who were very comfortable on the ball and in front of goal. They have several very quick and accomplished players which helped them in their comfortable and well-deserved win.
Credit to the Rugby team who kept the efforts going throughout the whole game.
Coaches player: Izzy, for a strong performance in the second half. Hope to see much more of that this season.
Parents player: Ella, for a full game in defence. Ella was kept busy for the whole game and showed great commitment and adaptability.
Thank you to the all the U14 parents for your support, Kerry for the Photos, Adie for refereeing and Andrew for running the line.