Sunday 9th October
Squad: Olivia, Sophie, Emma, Millie, Gracie, Bella, Poppy
Sponsor: Purely Mortgages
The under 10s travelled to visit Epworth Forest early this morning for a 9:30 KO. With a number of players missing due to injuries and other commitments we faced the experienced Epworth with only 7 players. The girls knew they were up for a tough game but this didn’t dampen their spirits.
Rugby started the game strong and closed the ball down quickly. It came apparent to the girls quite quickly that this wasn’t the same Epworth team we’ve faced before which helped the girls to relax and play their own game. Millie, Gracie and Emma worked tirelessly in midfield chasing down every ball to create chances up front for Sophie who made some excellent runs into the box and found herself in some promising positions. Poppy and Bella held their own at the back really well and intercepted most balls that were played through. On the odd occasion they slipped past our defence Olivia was there to stop them. Olivia listened really well to the coaches calls to come out and meet the ball today which boosted the confidence of the whole team. A swap around of Sophie and Millie saw Sophie put in a great shift in midfield until half time.
After some brownies at half time Rugby were ready to go back out and fight for the game.
We kept Liv in goal, Poppy and Bella in defence and had a shuffle around further up the pitch seeing Emma go into centre mid and Millie go upfront. Midfield did so well today as they were so tired but all girls were determined to keep Epworth out. As the half went on Rugby slowly began to tire but as did Epworth which Rugby used to their advantage to create chances for themselves. After a brilliant run down the wing and into the box Millie was brought down and had to come off, meaning yet another shuffle round of positions. Emma stepped into defence with Poppy, Gracie and Sophie remained in midfield and Bella had her turn upfront. Rugby did exceptionally well to continue the game with 6 players and held Epworth Forest out until the final whistle.
Really difficult to choose Managers player and Parents but 2 girls stood out today.
Managers- Emma for amazing efforts in multiple positions across the pitch.
Parents- Gracie for non stop hard work on the wing making important tackles when needed.