Sunday 10th October 2021
Sponsor: Ford Bros Building & Electrical
Squad: Alice, Amelia, Beth, El, Elisa, Emmi, Jess, Katie, Lola, Maddie(capt), Matilda, Sophia
Rugby Town u12 Lionesses travelled to Whetstone for a late kick off, in some lovely weather. Rugby were in great spirits following a close draw the previous week.
Rugby started the first half well and were putting good pressure on Whetstone. With Jess again in the striker position with great support from Matilda and Amelia in attacking midfield.
Alice, Beth, Maddie and Emmi all worked well to keep Whetstone at bay. Whilst a midfield of Katie, El were working hard to control the middle of the park and were involved in both attacking and defending.
Lola and Elisa putting some great work to maintain the pressure, and chased every ball, and put some great balls forward. Sophia playing only her second game, since joining the team had a strong game building on from some great work in training to get herself match ready.
The early pressure paid off, when Jess broke through the opposition defence a great finish. At this point both teams upped their games and the game became a tough but exciting match.
In an unfortunate moment a unintentional handball led to a controversial penalty, which was initially given as a free kick on the edge of the box, before the ref changed his mind.
This left the score 1-1.
The second half continued at the same pace, with both teams giving it their all to get in front. However a period of pressure from Rugby in the Whetstone box, forced a Whetstone clearance which fell to El mid way between the box and the halfway line. El reacted quickly and took the opportunity to put the ball right back in. However she hit it so well that it went over the top of the keeper, and despite the keeper stretching, the ball dipped below the cross bar and into the back of the net. Her quick action got its just reward.
2-1
The game continued at a high tempo, with both teams clearly believing more goals were coming, and close to the end of the match a bit of a scramble in the Rugby penalty area resulted in Whetstone managing to equalise again.
2-2
With only 5 minutes left, you might think the teams would settle for a point a piece. However this was never going to be the case. And a great run by Jess, which looked to have been forced wide by Whetstone resulted in another fantastic stuck goal which went over the heads of the players and into the net.
3-2 to Rugby
The effort from both teams only stopped at the referee’s final whistle, but it was Rugby who came away with all 3 points. This was nothing less than they deserved on the back of some good recent performances.
Parents player: Jess for some fantastic runs and 2 great finishes.
Managers player: Emmi, for another commanding performance in goals and a massive improvement in her distribution, which has come from her working hard in training to develop this area of her game.
I’d also like to thank all the parents for their continued support and belief in the girls. Also thank you to Pete for again running the line and helping with training.