El Rugbico
Sponsored by Big Wave Campers
Immie – GK
Elsie -DF
Esme – DF
Ava – CM
Ruby – CM
Annabelle – LM
Sophia – RM
Liv – ST
Leila – ST
Subs – Olivia, Emily, Chloe, Erin
Man United Vs Liverpool?
Celtic Vs Rangers?
Real Madrid Vs Barcelona?
What they all have in common is that sense of local pride and passion, and usually an element of needle both on and off the pitch, and the first El Rugbico of the season between Town and Borough was no exception.
Town were debuting their new purple kit and were straight into the action as Borough looked to use their physical front players to put pressure on. Elsie continued her impressive start to the season with strong tackling in partnership with Esme’s good positioning and commitment. Immie was called upon to make some good saves early on and demonstrated her excellent clearance skills with great kicks and distribution.
The spiciness was already at Tikka Masala level and in the midfield Ruby was pulling the strings creating opportunities for Annabelle and Sophia on the wings to get forward. Sophia had a couple of good opportunities but wasn’t able to find the target.
As in all the best local derbies, the tackling was starting to become really committed from both sides and the spiciness was now becoming Jalfrezi level with moments of genuine quality being rare, but Leila and Sophia linked up really well to create shooting chances, Erin showed her skilful touches playing a fantastic through ball for Leila who was unlucky to not be able to beat the goalkeeper to the ball.
A throw in for Borough and a direct run from their impressive central midfielder led to a close range finish and 0:1. The midfield in particular showed their tenacity at going behind with Ava, Liv and Chloe balancing their attacking duties with tracking back and tackling. Liv continued to adapt to her new role up front and was proving to be a nuisance to the defenders with her physical abilities.
The tension even started to reach the officials, with the referee and linesman engaged in a debate at halftime and some supportive guidance was provided on flag usage.
The 2nd half continued in a similar vein, with Erin growing into the midfield role and Emily started to use the space out wide to make some good runs and passing. The energy levels needed meant frequent substitutions and Olivia came on into the thick of things in defence. Immie made a series of excellent close range saves but was unable to reach a close range effort that snuck into the bottom corner for 0:2.
The match was now up at Madras levels, with parents and team managers starting to contribute towards an increasingly charged atmosphere. The tackles were becoming more committed and some of the personal battles between opponents who are also at school with each other added another dimension. This spilled over into some fouls and little kicks and pushes that unfortunately led to a Town player reacting to the provocation and over-stepped the line of what is allowed. This brought out some Vindaloo levels of reaction from some parents that actually needed a little bit of mint yoghurt to cool them down.
The match entered the final quarter and Town started to show some of their quality. Annabelle nutmegged the Borough forward and attempted to go round her, but hadn’t reckoned on how far that would be. From the resulting free kick a goalmouth scramble ensued but Chloe couldn’t quite find the finishing touch.
Elsie and Esme continued to provide good clearances and Immie made more good saves that kept the score down. Ava and Ruby both had opportunities to shoot and a terrific cross from the right was met with a superb left foot volley from Annabelle. A mango chutney of an effort that was unlucky to go just over the bar.
Parents Player of the Match – Immie
Coaches Player of the Match – Emily
Special mention for the referee, Jason
