Sunday 27th November
Sponsored by Big Wave Campers, Kelsey Living, Ados Ltd, Oxygen Graphics and Eclipse Clean
Immie – GK, Annabelle – DF, Esme – DF, Olivia – DF, Sophia – RM, Emily – LM, Ruby – CM, Chloe – ST, Liv – ST
Erin, Elsie, Ava
Just as it’s always windy in Coalville, it’s always muddy at the far end of the bottom astro pitch for the visit of Coalville Town, when they were eventually able to get to it thanks to some particularly ‘imaginative’ parking on Butlin Road.
Confidence was high going into the game after a long run of matches being undefeated. Having won the toss, Rugby decided to not swap ends as this was agreed as being a bit of a ridiculous move by any team that would do that.
Inspired by England vs USA on Friday it was highlighted that the most effective way to win football matches is to take some shots and score some goals and Rugby were keen to put on pressure from the kick off. A frenetic start saw lots of chances being created before the breakthrough came. The first of Liv’s incredible throw-ins found Ruby in centre midfield who played a delightful through ball to Sophia, who was able to demonstrate her terrific dribbling skills by rounding two defenders and shooting hard into the net for 1:0.
The change to a back three appears to have been the catalyst for the unbeaten run of matches, and Olivia, Annabelle and Esme continued to demonstrate how effective a unit they have become by being calm under pressure and good decision making when under pressure.
Emily has continued to show her increased strength to the team with some neat passes that led to Ruby placing her shot that was heading for the top corner before a timely intervention from a defender. At the resulting corner, the linesman from Coalville demonstrated what this level of football should be about by providing some guidance on how to take a corner without the flag being a hindrance. Sophia took full advantage of this by delivering a superb ball into the box that Chloe poked home for 2:0.
The first round of substitutions brought Erin and Ava in to the midfield and both immediately got stuck into the action and a terrific short corner routine between Ruby and Ava was unlucky to not increase the score. Elsie brought her tackling and determination into the defence and all three girls were handling the physicality of the opposition with being overly concerned and Annabelle was linking up play with her excellent passing into midfield.
Immie remained untroubled in goal and started to become more of an attacking option with her long clearances creating chances for Sophia and Ava, who were both unlucky to not add more goals before half-time.
Coalville started to have more of the ball in the 2nd half and the match was more evenly balanced. Erin was having her own personal duel with her physically much bigger opponent and linked up superbly with Ava in winning the ball back in attacking positions. After great link play between Liv and Chloe, Rugby were awarded a corner. Ruby demonstrated her excellent prowess from set pieces with a superb cross that found its way into the net and 3:0.
This seemed to spark Coalville into life and they became much more attack minded and from their first clear chance of the match managed to hit a close range shot that squirmed under Immie and made the score 3:1. The tempo went up a notch after this and it was great to see all the girls getting stuck in with their tackles, great tracking back by Chloe and Sophia and continued defensive partnership play by Esme and Olivia.
Another great clearance from Immie found Emily available on the left, and she had a great run on goal and was unlucky with the shot. In a repeat move, Erin played an excellent through ball to Sophia who capped off a fine individual display to smash the goal home and a 4:1 victory,
Coaches Player of the Match – Esme
Parents Player of the Match – Sophia
Thank you to all the officials for keeping the game flowing