Sunday 2nd October
Squad: Ellie, Ava, Izzy, Cara, Kelsey (Captain), Sophia W, Priya, Sophia K, Robyn, Millie, Tash, Zoe
Sponsor: Lisa Collins Hair Design
Another away fixture for the U16s, who were looking to extend their unbeaten run. A trip up the M1 to Mountsorrel on a surprisingly warm October afternoon.
First Half
Rugby was given an early warning by Mountsorrel with an early shot across goal in the opening minute of the game. Unfortunately, they didn’t take heed, and shortly after the same move by Mountsorrel down their right wing was crossed into the net. Conceding early is becoming a minor issue for Rugby, so the team will be putting their heads together to plan for a more dynamic start to their games.
Mountsorrel 1 – 0 Rugby Town
Ava, Kelsey, and Tash started to warm up and were linking well. Rugby won 2 throws in quick succession, allowing progress up the pitch. Tash and Priya combined well, seeing Priya’s shot go wide of the post.
Rugby maintained the pressure and forward play with Tash, Cara (in her first game playing in a forward position), and Kelsey moved the ball well, Kelsey’s shot saved by the Mountsorrel keeper. Shortly after Tash also saw a shot saved after some clever play by Millie, Kelsey, and Priya. And a further wide shot from Tash closed off a period of sustained Rugby pressure.
Mountsorrel turned the tables a bit and the Rugby defensive 4 of Zoe, Ellie, Robyn, and Izzy has to control the play and absorb the pressure. Play moved back into the Mountsorrel half and resulted in a corner for Rugby. Well delivered by Tash but easily cleared by the home team
Cara <-> Sophia K
Mountsorrel were favoring the long shot, luckily most were from a hopeful distance and were wide of the Rugby goal. Robyn (CB) was utilising some defensive headers very well, and Rugby was generally holding the Mountsorrel team well clear of the final third.
Rugby won a throw, which skipped up to the 18yd box. A very unfortunate error by the Mountsorrel keeper provided Kelsey an opportunity that she was not going to turn down, and Rugby equaled the scoreline
Mountsorrel 1 – 1 Rugby Town
Restarting and Rugby were keen to take the lead, play by Kelsey and Sophia K saw Sophia’s shot saved. Tash was having a great game, clearly happy and confident to be the self-appointed playmaker. Another positive spell saw some lovely passing between Tash, Sophia K, Millie, and Ava, with Ava just wide off the target.
Second Half
The halftime talk focussed on taking individual role responsibility and a requirement to show more determination on winning the ball. Clearly, instructions were understood as quickly from the start Tash, with a lovely through ball, found Ava who converted to take the lead.
Mountsorrel 1 – 2 Rugby Town
Rugby was now running up through the gears. Their passing was hugely improved, and the pitch position on game ownership was dramatically different from the first half. This was allowing the team to control the game and work more opportunities into their play.
Some Ava and Millie teamwork freed up a shot on goal by Millie, again just wide. Rugby was awarded 2 throws deep in the Mountsorrel defensive third and finally, the visitors won a corner. Tash delivered, but the ball just drifted into the side net. Keeping the pressure on, Kelsey was again released to take a shot, but again another missed opportunity by Rugby with a wide shot.
Mountsorrel mounted an effective counter which pushed Rugby back into their own half. Mountsorrel won a throw and a speculative shot saw Sophia W make a rare mistake in the game, again equalling the score line.
Mountsorrel 2 – 2 Rugby Town
Rugby now had to decide to twist or stick, luckily they made the correct choice to twist, and up through the gears, they went again. Great work by Ava to win, control, and release Kelsey who converted to put Rugby in the lead again.
Mountsorrel 2 – 3 Rugby Town
Ava <-> Sophia K
Sophia K back in and was asked to sit high and still to prevent aggravating a thigh niggle. However, asking Sophia K to not run is a pretty pointless task, and she was stuck straight in with powerful play, setting up a lovely ball for Kelsey to convert
Mountsorrel 2 – 4 Rugby Town
Zoe, having covered at least a marathon worth of miles came off feeling a little worse for wear. And with Ava also off with a thigh issue, Rugby was now down to 10 players. The coach amended the formation to a 2-3-4 to maintain the defence.
Mountsorrel was keen to capitalise on having more players on the pitch. It did not quite work out for them with Rugby showing calmness and maturity and maintaining their control of the game. Izzy especially played her position very well during this period. With 10 mins left to play, Ava recovered enough to return to the field of play. Cara dropped down into defence and Tash dropped to a defensive midfield position. Both players showed great versatility and teamwork.
There was still action to come with a sweet goal by Sophia K, assisted by Ava
Mountsorrel 2 – 5 Rugby Town
Ellie, showing great positional awareness provided a demanding goal-line clearance with inches to spare on the last Mountsorrel attacking push
Finally Tash, again driving the play for the team, released Kelsey for a great defence beating run for her 4th and Rugby’s 6th of the game
Summary
Mountsorrel Panthers 2 – 6 Rugby Town
A sketchy start buy the visiting team putting them on the back foot. However, half-time instructions were listened to and followed, making for a pretty dominant second half, under some testing circumstances as we played a lot of the second half with 10 players.
Managers player(s) of the match: Tash and Cara. Both players had to play in multiple positions on the pitch. Great flexibility and adaptability from both really helped the team push the final score line.
Captains’ player(s) of the match: Ava and Priya. Massive work rate. Great individual and team responsibility. Clear determination from both players to get the job done.
Thank you to Mark for refereeing, Brian for running the line, and all the U16 parents for your support.