Sunday 17th November 2024
Sponsors: Oxygen Graphics, Big Wave Campers, Ados, Eclipse Clean, Kelsy Living, Life Investments Estate Agency
An afternoon kick off for Rugby Town away at Nuneaton Borough.The morning sun had disappeared to be replaced by grey skies by the time it got to the 12.30 kick off, fortunately there was no rain as yet which all the players and parents always appreciate
Shouty Dave gave the pre-match team talk and explained exactly what he wanted from the team today, to be strong in the tackle, to not back down, to get in their business (standard instruction now) and to not make it easy for them. If he had played Eye of the Tiger (this was on in the car on our way home) before the game it would have been totally appropriate for what he expected in this match. The girl also had to adjust to a new formation today and also some of the girls playing in unfamiliar positions.
Rugby kicked off and immediately went on the attack with Izzy having a shot that was saved by the Boro keeper. Boro then had a shot that went wide of Jasmine’s goal but Rugby then started to dominate the game. Poppy put in a great cross after beating the defender, which she would do many more times during the match, and then Ioana hit the bar after a great pass from Daisy May. Rugby were piling on the pressure and had a corner cleared well by the Boro defence.
The referee then judged the Boro keeper to have handled outside of the area and awarded Rugby a free kick. Sophie stepped up to take it and smashed it into the back of the net.
**Score Update:** Nuneaton Borough 0 – 1 Rugby Town
It was a deserved lead for Rugby after their great start to the game, Rugby continued to battle for every ball. Jasmine closed down the Boro striker quickly who was in on goal and forced her to shoot wide. Izzy had another shot that was well saved by the Boro keeper. Megan then came off to be replaced by Caitlin, Caitlin playing in midfield for the first time this season.
Jasmine then launched the ball forward quickly, the bounce meant that the Boro defenders missed it and the ball fell kindly to Izzy who finished well past the keeper. A second goal for Rugby after dominating the first half.
**Score Update:** Nuneaton Borough 0 – 2 Rugby Town
Caitlin then had a shot that was well saved by the Boro goalkeeper. We have been working in training on first time shots and it was good to see training being translated into matches today.
**Half-time:** Nuneaton Borough 0 – 2 Rugby Town
The second half started and Rugby continued their dominance of the game, chasing down everything and not letting Boro have any time on the ball at all. After an unfortunate offside call that prevented Rugby going through on goal again Daisy May had to do some defending to keep Boro out. The defensive unit of Daisy-May, Amelia and Leila were all excellent today, and with Ronniee in front of them and both Sophie and Macey working hard in midfield Boro were restricted every time they tried to attack.
Boro then had a shot that was easily saved by Jasmine in the Rugby goal. As gaps were starting to appear on the pitch, not molehills like last years pitch, Sophie was getting more of the ball and was able to put a good cross in that caused a scramble in the Boro defence.
The Shouty One with agreement from the Quiet One decided it was time to take a leaf out of the Special One’s defensive playbook. The parking of the bus required a couple of substitutions, Mollie and Olivia coming on to allow a change in formation for Rugby.
For the rest of the second half Rugby worked incredibly hard to protect their 2 goal advantage. The 50-50 balls were all challenged for, Mollie made a number of great tackles in midfield and was able to distribute the ball out to Poppy a number of times to get Rugby on the attack again.
Sophie then had another opportunity from a free kick, putting the ball just wide. The final few minutes of the game seemed to last an eternity. Boro continued to attack and had a couple of corners but the Rugby bus was parked and nothing was getting through.
At the final whistle the icing on the cake would have been a Mourinho style knee slide down the line but the Rugby coaches decided against it and a shaking of hands was done instead.
**Full-time:** Nuneaton Borough 0 – 2 Rugby Town
Fantastic performance from Rugby Town today, those that were playing out of their normal positions all played brilliantly, a very much deserved victory against a very tough team. At the end of the game even the opposition manager had to say that Rugby fully deserved the three points today. It was so pleasing to see the tackles going in and none of the girls taking a backward step. All of the girls should be proud of the performance today, they executed the plan perfectly, stuck to their jobs and worked so hard right to the final whistle. The clean sheet was a bonus today but it shows what can be achieved when all the girls put a shift in.
Coaches player Ronniee
Thanks to all the coaches and parents (a big 180 for Amelia’s mum although disappointing the cone hat from the darts was not on display). Thanks to Nuneaton Borough for hosting, thanks to the referee who was excellent. A special mention for the excellent second half performance of James with the flag.