Sunday 3rd September Sponsored by Big Wave Campers and Kelsy Living www.bigwavecampers.co.uk/ kelsyliving.co.uk/
Your Rugby Town U13’s Team for this match: GK – Immie DF – Esme DF – Olivia DF – Ava CM – Ruby RM – Emily LM – Erin ST – Japjeevan ST – Sophia Subs – Elsie, Annabelle, Chloe
Bright sunshine and 25 degrees sunshine for the first match of the new season, with the U13’s playing in a different league than last year. Whilst this means that we will be sad to say goodbye to some of the teams that we’ve come to love over the past couple of seasons, it does mean that we will be able to welcome some new clubs to Butlin Road and opportunities for the Rugby parents to explore some new areas of Leicestershire.
Our visitors today were Sporting Markfield, and with a Ted Rodgers style 3-2-1 (look it up kids..) the match got underway and with their first attack of the match, a long ball was met by the Markfield forward who just beat Immie to the ball and was able to strike it lucky into the net for a 0:1 lead. This early set back prompted a strong response and Esme started to marshall the defence and showed great positional play and some strong tackling as Rugby made their way back into the game. Olivia showed her positional play in shepherding the wingers out wide whilst Ava was able to show some great control in the centre. A pass from Ava out wide to Emily then allowed Sophia to make a big break towards goal and she was unlucky to see her golden shot go wide.
Given the heat of the day, the manager made the first of the many substitutions early on and brought Annabelle into the position of defensive midfield. This mastermind tactic helped create a more solid defensive platform that allowed for the more attacking players to get forwards, with Erin showing her usual determination in her wing play and chances were now being created. Japjeevan was making her league debut for Rugby Town and a great corner from Sophia created the first of her chances of the afternoon and she was unlucky to not make a clean connection with it. With more pressure being created, a fast counterattack from Markfield meant the chase was on to catch their quick winger, and another excellent tackle from Esme (in tandem with her usual catchphrase of “I’m sorry”) cleared the danger. Annabelle was working hard in the centre of midfield and made some good passes for Ruby to make one of her strong runs forward and a long shot from the edge of the area was parried by the goal keeper and there were audible deal-or-no-deal gasps from the crowd as it went agonisingly, slowly wide. Sophia took the resulting corner and a great pass into the area created havoc, with Chloe, Japjeevan and Ruby all scrambling for a shot but the wheel of fortune wasn’t with them and another corner was the result. Showing her deadball skills, Ruby made a tremendous pass into the box and Japjeevan’s half-volley went just over the bar as the half-time whistle went.
The 2nd half continued in a similar way, with Rugby piling on the pressure and Markfield playing on the counter. Elsie showed her continued strength in her defensive play being linked to some excellent positional sense and was working well with Erin on the left wing. With so much pushing forward, Rugby were undone by an unlucky bounce in midfield that broke to the Markfield forward to finished well, giving Immie no chance as the score was now 0:2. Annabelle and Ruby continued to dominate the midfield and there was some nice passing between them and Emily to create space further forwards. Following a strong tackle from Annabelle, she played a neat pass to Erin who was able to play a great through ball for Japjeevan to run on to. Just when it looked as if Rugby were going to draw a blankety blank, Japjeevan struck a firm shot that found the bottom corner of the net, scoring on her debut and making the game 1-2.
This felt like a tipping point in the match, and the girls really started to push for the equaliser. Elsie was playing the ball out wide for Sophia to make more of her direct dribbling runs, Esme and Olivia were pushing forwards and playing a high line and Ava was in her more usual attacking midfield role in order to put pressure on the Markfield goal kicks that were seen as the weakest link in their game. A superb long shot from Emily was just over the bar, and both Erin and Annabelle had long shots that went just wide.
The countdown towards the final whistle seemed to take forever and questions were being asked about whether the ref had all the equipment he needed with him. Watch, whistle and even yellow and red cards were all present although the good nature of the match meant that he didn’t need to play his cards, right. With so many players pushed forwards, the risk of a counter-attack left Immie wide open and with their 3rd shot of the match Markfield made it 1:3 and a result that didn’t reflect the performance. The defeat leaves Rugby pointless after their first match of the season but some good signs with the performance.
Coaches Player of the Match – Annabelle Parents Player of the Match – Erin Thank you as always to the referee and (last-minute) officials for their commitment and the parents for their continued encouragement and support. Brought to you by Rugby Town Sportswriter of the Year 2023©