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“Fun in the Sun”
Rugby hosted Loughborough in our final game of the season. The visitors were in good form having won 3, drew 1 and lost 2 of their 6 games since the new year, and occupied a guaranteed 3rd place. With Rugby guaranteed 2nd you’d be forgiven for assuming we might have a lacklustre dead rubber game, but we were again treated to a competitive match.
Rugby started well, playing some lovely passing football and demonstrating what we’ve been working hard on in training, retaining the ball and not rushing to score.
Loughborough grew into the game and with a trio (CB, CM & CF) all with good technical ability and physical attributes such as speed, began to really test the the girls.
It was Loughborough who took the lead when a free kick was awarded some 30 yards from goal. Fifi got her positioning wrong but take nothing away from what was a very good strike that flew into the far top corner.
Rugby were not rattled and didn’t panic, and it didn’t take long to reply with a goal of their own. Bailey was played in down the left, and found herself against the Foxes quickest player…she rounded her on the outside before finishing well from a tight angle. Moments later and Rugby had gone from 1-0 down to 2-1 up when Katie’s pinpoint cross saw Cara bundle the ball home.
Sofia is one of the best finishers in the squad and she showed why when she found a yard of space inside the 18 yard box and fired home a curling effort first time.
HT Rugby 3-1 Loughborough
At half time we talked about smartening up some of our play, taking more care with our passes and only playing the through ball when it was genuinely on so that we could increase our possession and tire out the opposition.
Ellie struck the first blow with a brilliant strike from 20 yards, and not to be outdone Sofia added an almost identical effort of her own. Sofia got her hat trick with relatively straightforward finish from close range, and the game was as good as won.
Bailey caused alarm amongst both her teammates and onlookers when she signalled she was in discomfort, she managed to get off the pitch on the far side but went down in a heap. Her teammates and parents were quick to react and rushed to her aid. We can report that she is ok after some rest and it is likely that she succumbed to the heat. A BIG thank you to Fi, Anna, Kelly and the opposition coach who is a nurse, for helping Learna and Bailey deal with the situation ā¤ļø.
The girls did not let the pause in play distract them and they went on to add two more before the final whistle, Adi finished well after a great through ball from Chloe, and Cara showed great composure to expertly round the keeper and slot into an empty net.
FT Rugby 8-1 Loughborough
Players PotM: Cara š
Coaches PotM: Sophie š
Parents PotM: Sofia š
Thank you to Bob & Tristan for their help today and for the support from the bank!
Shout out to the girls also who helped clear the pitch of rubbish before the game, I’ll never understand why people drop and leave litter?!
With the season now over we can share some league stats;
Played 18, Won 15, Drew 2, Lost 1.
Goals Scored: 94
Goals Conceded: 16 (12 in our first 6 games BUT only 4 in our remaining 12 games)
Today’s report pays little attention to the work done defensively, but I wanted to reiterate…goals, cleans sheets and good performances are the result of every player doing their job well, and sometimes sacrificing personal glory for the betterment of their team mates and the team. We defend from the front and we attack from the back, so one persons success belongs to everyone, one persons mistakes is owned by all of us.