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Immie – GK, Elsie – DF, Esme – DF, Annabelle – DF, Sophia – RM, Ava – LM, Ruby – CM, Chloe – ST, Leila – ST, Subs Liv, Emily, Olivia
The bonfire weekend fixture welcomed Croft to Butlin Road and a match that proved to have the fireworks that have been coming for a number of weeks.
Chances were created right from kick off with Leila moving with her pace and off the ball runs, making the first of many shooting opportunities. Sophia and Ava were making strong runs on the wings with great crosses coming in and the first of many good saves from the Croft goalkeeper. Ruby was able to dominate the early exchanges in the centre of midfield, and provided the link up play with Chloe that brought a fine save once again.
The move to a back three has made a big difference in recent matches, with Esme using her awareness to read danger, Elsie her speed to cut off runs and Annabelle using her strength to deal with the Croft attackers. A pass out of defence found Ava, who used her technique to play a delightful through ball to Leila who showed great anticipation and gambled on her run to shoot hard and low into the net for 1:0.
Immie continued to demonstrate the confidence a great goalkeeper gives to the team, with great long range clearances that the girls were shouting for. Emily came on to strengthen the midfield and immediately started making crucial tackles. Liv joined in her new attacking role and made an immediate impact with her strength and power unsettling the Croft defence.
A rare Croft attack led to a long range shot that Immie saw safely over the bar. This led to Croft having more confidence in pushing players forward although the first of the excellent off side decisions halted the attack. A Croft throw in then led to some good close control from their busy forwards which led to a close range effort that squeezed pass Immie for 1:1.
Olivia came on for the last part of the 1st half and brought her usual calmness and strength to marshall the defence, and Rugby responded well to the equaliser by pushing forwards with long range efforts from Ruby and Annabelle and more pressure on the Croft goalkeeper. A great corner caused a goalmouth scramble that Croft were fortunate to not concede from just at the stroke of half time.
The second half started with Croft on the attack, and Olivia showed great awareness in covering the danger before a trademark crunching tackle from Annabelle. On the next Croft attack Esme showed her growing confidence in her decision making by clearing to a teammate and a lovely nutmeg and clearance from Annabelle found Ava on the wing who made a fantastic run on goal that brought another excellent save from the goalkeeper.
From the resulting goal kick, Liv made a crucial interception and then a great strike to make it 2:1. The strength of Liv enabled her to play the target role, holding up the ball in the centre forward position and bring others into the attack, with a pass out to Sophia who hit a superb cross into the area for Ava to smash home high into the net to make it 3:1, and the celebration that followed showed how much this meant to the girls.
With confidence growing, Emily and Leila linked up with Chloe who played a great pass through to Liv who finished neatly to complete her brace and 4:1. Playing a high line, the defence were called upon to be cover more ground and Elsie made a fantastic tackle to prevent a shooting opportunity for the impressive Croft centre forward. The defensive discipline led to the next Croft attack being flagged offside, but this was unknown to Immie who produced another fine save low down to her left.
As the game entered the final stages, Rugby were pushing forward and Croft were playing on the counter attack. The linesman completed his own personal hat trick with another great flag as Esme once again demonstrated her positional awareness.
In the final stages, Chloe, Ava and Sophia continued to take the game to their opponents and Leila was dragging defenders out of position. With Liv launching another one of her trademark long throws, Ruby was able to run through into the space created and hit a thunderbolt of a shot from the edge of the area to make the final score 5:1 to Rugby Town.
Coaches Player of the Match: Leila
Parents Player of the Match: Liv
Thank you to the officials with some excellent refereeing that kept the game flowing.