February 26th 2023 KO 10:30am
Team: Phoebe, Sienna M., Sienna W., Emilia, Izzy, Ava
Sponsor: Lightning Tools and Life Investments Estate Agency
This was Rugby Towns U9s first home game for some time after our away match adventures and the half term break. The team lined up on a bright but cold morning to play Epworth Forest U9s, with the coaching team only having a small match day squad of 6 players. The game played over 2 x 20 minute periods.
Despite being light in numbers the girls started in a positive manner but tested in the opening minutes by some good play by Epworth. Despite the strong attacking start by Epworth, Rugby soon stepped up a gear with all the girls working well together as a hardworking unit. This produced a sustained period of pressure, possession and positive play. From this energy Rugby managed to get past the Epworth defense with some excellent play.
The second period of 20 minutes started well despite the lack of substitution options for the coaching team, with again several moments of strong attacking football, good goal keeping and a strong team ethic. This should have directly benefited Rugby Town, but the Epworth goalie worked hard and was clearly up to the challenge. This then allowed Epworth to build confidence as they deployed an effective counter attacking style to match Rugby possession stats.
The Rugby girls kept a tight formation and shape throughout with some excellent defending and exciting attacking football. This produced an excellent, well balanced match between two hardworking teams. Despite limited substitution opportunities the girls kept running and smiling throughout the entire 40 mins and I think developed equally from this experience.
In summary: The whole team worked incredibly hard and again proved how entertaining they can be as a team, demonstrating high skill levels and passing excellence. They all kept going until the final whistle and the whole nature of the team’s effort meant that the coaching team and the parents were unable to select individual players of the match. To support this fact a combined team celebration for the entire Rugby team was agreed to reflect the teams’ efforts.
POM and PPOM: Team Award – as each player equally contributed to well fought match.