Squad: Phoebe, Emilia, Ellie, Lily, Poppy
Sponsor: Lightningtools
The wildcats faced an experienced Dunton this week and with only 5 players the girls knew they had to give it their all.
We started the match strong with regular goalkeeper Phoebe between the sticks, Emilia in defence, Lily and Poppy in midfield and Ellie upfront. The girls went into the match with high energy and concentration. They were fighting hard in the middle of the pitch to win the ball back which stopped the Unicorns in their tracks a number of times. On the chance that they got past Ellie, Lily and Poppy, Emilia was there to put in a strong tackle and clear the ball for Rugby. From one great clearance Lily was on the end to chase it up the pitch she got it under control well and passed to Ellie to give Rugby success. This gave the girls the energy to carry on hard for the rest of the first half.
With a little switch around on the pitch to allow the girls to try different positions we saw Lily go up front Ellie in midfield with an energetic Poppy and unchanged Emilia and Phoebe. As the first half went on the girls were getting more and more tired, the heat was getting to them, and the realisation of no subs was hard for them. As we tired concentration dropped, and the Unicorns attackers were picking up on this to force Phoebe to make some great saves. Phoebe took this chance to work on her goal kicks out of her hands and in the end was sending some great long balls up the pitch.
For the second half of the match we played 2 lots of 10 minutes to allow the girls more of a rest. This saw Poppy step upfront and Ellie in defence with Lily and Emilia in midfield, we kept fighting but the girls had tired by this point and there was no stopping Dunton’s fresh legs upfront. But I have to hand it to our Wildcats they did not just up they kept trying. We worked a lot on marking in this match which really slowed the opposition down.
For the final 10 minutes we brought Phoebe out of goal and saw Ellie go in goal for her first ever time. Ellie had some great goal kicks over the top to Poppy who managed to get some under control. All in all I am very proud of the Wildcats for their hard work and determination this week.
Players of the match:
Poppy for showing great skills and confidence in her first ever match!
Phoebe for having a solid performance in goal and trying unfamiliar positions out field.
Thank you to young leaders Hannah for reffing the match and Izzy for assisting me on the sidelines
