Sunday 8th May
Liv -GK, Olivia – DF, Ruby – DF, Anya – CM, Sophia – RW, Erin – LW, Chloe – ST, Ava – Sub, Jasmine – Sub, Annabelle – Sub, Caitlin- Sub ,Esme – Cheerleading
Sponsor: Ados Group Ltd
Warm weather and the smell of bacon welcomed Town to the home of our friends across town at Kilsby Lane, with a large supporting group to cheer the girls on. This included Esme, who was unable to play due to a stress fracture, but she showed the great spirit the Town girls have by being on the bench to support her teammates.
The styles of the two teams couldn’t be more different, with Town showing technical skills against Borough’s greater physicality and more ‘professional’ attitude towards winning. The nervousness and tension the girls had been feeling soon disappeared as the game started at a frenetic pace.
The strength of Olivia and Ruby in defence laid the foundation for the pressure to be applied to the opposition and the number of corners won by the wing play of Erin and Sophia was a sign of Towns early dominance.
Ruby and Chloe both went close with shots and Sophia’s trademark direct runs brought out some robust tackling that led to a free kick that Town were unlucky not to convert. This became the pattern for the first half with pressing high up the pitch and creating chances. The corner count continued to rise. The referee did an amazing job of officiating what was becoming a feisty encounter.
A clear tactic of Borough was the long throw towards their physically strong front players, and Liv was called into action, tipping a close range shot on to the post and saving the rebound. Town continued to demonstrate the better passing and approach play and Sophia capped off a fine run from halfway, going past two defenders to break the deadlock. The Borough response was to throw the bigger girls forward and a long throw led to a goalmouth scramble that Liv was powerless to stop.
The high intensity and pace of the game meant Ava, Jasmine, Caitlin and Annabelle were brought on in rotation. Anya continued to be the link between defence and attack and good technical play from Ava and Caitlin enabled Annabelle and Erin to create pressure for Jasmine to have shots that were just wide of the target.
As the match entered the last 15 minutes, the pace of the match began to tell and Borough started playing on the counter-attack and another long throw led to a close range header being converted.
The whole team pushed forward for the final 10 minutes, with Olivia providing the defensive cover for her teammates to all be in attacking positions. Shots from Ruby, Anya and Chloe just wouldn’t find their way through.
At the final whistle Town demonstrated their class in response to the result. As an indication of how the match had been played, Borough voted their goalkeeper as their Player of the Match and the rumours of an open-top bus being booked have so far been unfounded. Following the trophy presentations, Town demonstrated what they are known for – teamwork, togetherness and the girls being part of a football family – by going to the pub for a well-deserved lunch.
Thanks to Tristan & Simon for all they have done during the season, to Rugby Borough for such a close game and for hosting the final, to the referee and to all the parents for their support today and throughout the whole season. Football was the true winner today.