Sunday 3rd April 2022
Sponsor: FORD Bros building & Electrical.
Squad: Alice, Amelia, Beth, El, Elisa, Emmi, Jess, Katie, Lena, Lola, Maddie, Matilda, Ruby
Rugby Town u12 Lionesses hosted Barrow u12s today with an almost full squad and looked much better placed to take the game to Barrow.
This was following a narrow loss to Barrow in the previous game, where several players had been unavailable.
Rugby started off very strong and immediately had Barrow pegged back. A starting defence of Alice, Beth, and Maddie in front of Emmi in goal looked strong and were easily coping with any attacking play Barrow had. They have clearly built up a good understanding during the season so far.
Emmi did not have her busiest day in goal today, but kept her focus throughout the game, and dealt well with any balls when needed.
Katie, Elisa, Matilda and El started in the midfield and were quickly establishing a good passing game and keeping the ball forward. Several fantastic runs on the wing from Elisa, which have become more and more regular. Elisa was really causing some problems for Barrow with some skilful dribbling, beating several players.
Katie in her holding midfield position, again kept the formation steady and had a strong performance today. Also, El and Matilda who were linking up with Jess as the striker looked to be really pressuring Barrow, all three really passing well with some great forward play.
In the first half Rugby had most of the possession and the ball was being kept in the Barrow half for long spells. Rugby were starting to pile on the pressure and were eventually rewarded with a goal from Jess who had been busy in amongst the Barrow defensive line all half.
Midway through the half Ruby and Lena came on and it was great to see them slot effortlessly into the defence and maintained the strong backline.
Lola and Amelia also came on, and again had some great play, keeping Barrow on the back foot. Lola’s strength helped stiffen the Rugby midfield, and Amelia’s speed was a great boost to the Rugby attack.
There were several chances throughout the half by Rugby, one of the more memorable ones being a clearance by Beth just inside the Barrow half which looked like it was going to lob the Barrow keeper, but it wasn’t to be.
The first half finished well, but there was still everything to play for.
Barrow clearly thought there were points to be had at one nil and had a great start to the second half. However, Rugby did not panic, and with the healthier squad numbers, we were able to rotate to keep the high tempo going and re-establish control of the game.
In the second half Ruby and Alice rotated in at right full back and both had solid games. Lena was now at centre back and calmly dealt with any Barrow forward play through the middle. Maddie continuing a great game at left back making some important challenges. The defenders again kept a strong line and dealt with any of the Barrow attacks with confidence and teamwork.
With Lena in centre of defence, Beth was moved forward to the right-side of midfield. Beth was able to use her strength to push past the Barrow full back on several occasions and got some strong passes into the Barrow box.
Rugby were again in control and pressuring Barrow and eventually Rugby’s work rate was rewarded when Beth grabbed the second from a close range finish.
Rugby thought they had grabbed a third when Beth put in a great pass to Jess in the box, who slotted it away nicely. However, it was unfortunately ruled out as offside.
Likewise Katie who had been so strong in the centre was also unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when she had a great effort from the edge of the box go just wide of the upright.
A strong performance from start to finish by Rugby who controlled the game well. Jess, Amelia, Matilda and El all contributed well to the attacking play, and created a number of good chances between them.
Every girl should be proud of their efforts today, and the work on the training pitch is clearly paying off.
Final score 2-0 Rugby.
Parent’s player of the game : Maddie for a strong and dependable performance which she has done regularly throughout the season.
Manager’s player: Beth for a good performance in defence in the first half, before moving to midfield with some nice attacking play.
Thank you to Jason for refereeing, Pete for assisting, and thanks to the parents for their fantastic support of the girls.