An early start for everyone and quite a lot of consternation for those with a Drivers Licence as the satnav’s indicating a journey time of an hour to the furthest part of Leicestershire the girls have yet visited, with Asfordby being close to Melton Mowbray. A heavy downpour couldn’t dampen the spirits as we were warmly welcomed by our hosts and their lovely ground which included a roof (!) to sit under (!!) and a tuck shop (!!!). The choice of music playing (!!!!) from the home dressing room was as you’d expect for 15 year old girls and a particular female solo artist was appreciated by players from both sides.
Holwell Sports F.C, Welby Road, Asfordby
The Under 15’s are proud to be sponsored by @Mala Beds and @ADOS Group Limited
Your starting line-up for this match:
GK – Immie
DF – Elsie
DF – Ruby D
DF – Annabelle
CM – Emily
CM – El
CM – Tills
LW – Chloe
RW – Amy
CF – Sophia
ST – Anais
Subs – Sukhmani, Macey, Aga
From the kick-off, Asfordby were keen to try to press high up the pitch. This seemed like a Logical approach to take with the conditions, and some good control from the striker and an unlucky deflection that wrong-footed Immie gave Asfordby an early lead. This turned out to be a Bad Idea, Right, as the girls were quick to respond to this early setback. From the restart, Emily showed her strength and tenacity to win the ball back in midfield and Amy was running on the right wing into space and forcing a corner. A great cross from Tills was hit full on the volley by Sophia and she was unlucky to see her effort go just wide. More chances followed, with Sophia creating chances for Anais and Chloe, which were well saved by the goalkeeper.
Asfordby went on the attack again and Ruby was commanding in the center of defense in calmly playing the ball out to Annabelle, to start the next attack with Emily and linking up well on the left and forcing another corner. With Macey coming on to take the set piece, what followed was So American with El placing a superb shot into the top corner of the net and making the score 1:1.
Aga came on to give more threat in the centre and the Rugby girls were starting to play some good passing moves in tricky conditions. Macey was creating havoc and at one point had 3 opposition players on her, which seemed Brutal but showed how concerned the opposition were about containing the threat she was posing. From the right wing, Amy took a quick throw in to Tills and she showed her strength in playing a great pass into the box for Aga to score from close range and make the score 1:2
Asfordby continued to push forward and attacked down the right side, with a cross that was easily taken care of by Immie who was taking control of her area and providing a huge amount of confidence to her defenders. One of her excellent clearances down the middle of the pitch was collected by Sophia and she played a great ball into space for Anais to run on to. With her pace, she was able to leave the defenders behind her as they Can’t Catch Me Now as she lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and extended the lead to 3:1.
The team were much Hpier now and were hungry for more goals. Sukhmani came on and was unlucky to see her touch being just wide of the goal. A long clearance from the Asfordby goalkeeper went out for a throw in, which was quickly taken by Annabelle to Sophia who again was able to play Anais into space and another excellent finish to make the score 1:4
Emily and Tills continued to dominate the midfield and were controlling the centre of the pitch, with El showing her close control and skills. A mistimed Pretty Isn’t Pretty tackle from Sophia led to an Asfordby free-kick, and it was good to see her check in with a Hope Ur Ok with her opponent. The referee demonstrated her calmness and composure in handling the situation and resisted the calls from the home fans for a booking but just a quiet word to the captain instead.
Asfordby were trying to get back into the game but seemed to be taking 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back as the defense of Rugby was playing as a unit; Ruby covering the centre and Elsie taking control of the attackers outwide, where she showed some superb covering of two forwards before calming playing the ball down to line to start the next attack. Macey and Sukhmani played some excellent 1-2 passes, Tills and El linked up in space and Sukhmani ran through into the area from the left and cooly slotted the ball into the net to make the score 5:1 at half-time. The parents were able to take advantage of the facilities and tea’s, coffee’s and the obligatory Bovril were had making them feel some Jealously, Jealously about having this available.
The second half became a succession of chances for Rugby. Chloe had an excellent long shot from the edge of the area that was well saved. El had a shot from a corner that was well saved. Anais had an excellent run into the area and shot that was well saved. Amy pressured her defender into giving away a corner and had a shot that was well saved. The feeling of Déjà Vu was palpable and the Asfordby goalkeeper was keeping her side in it and the score would have been double figures without her bravery and commitment. Both the home and away fans cheered her with a Good 4 U and warm applause.
With the play being almost exclusively in the opposition half, Immie was practically a spectator watching the game from the other end of the pitch. This can always be a dangerous situation for a goalkeeper, but she showed great concentration when called into action in making a good save from a rare Asfordby attack. The home fans were becoming frustrated and were trying to get under the skin of the Rugby players and this even spread to one of the Assistant Referees who became a bit Sour forcing the referee to Get Him Back having had Enough of You questioning her decisions and asking for him to be replaced.
At some point in the 2nd half, another goal was scored by Anais to complete her Teenage Dream of a performance to complete here hat-trick but the match reporter was distracted like a Vampire by the sunshine coming through and missed it.
The match finished 1:6 and the Rugby U15’s go to the top of the league, with birthday sweets from Annabelle to celebrate.
Parents Player of the Match – Anais
Coaches Player of the Match – Aga
Managers Player of the Match – El
Thank you to the referee who controlled the game well and managed the players and her three Assistant Referees. Asfordby was a really lovely ground for the girls to have played at and they put in a performance to match.