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League Shield Quarter Final
Liv – GK, Anya – CDM, Ruby DF, Sophia – RM, Annabelle – LM, Erin – CAM, Chloe – ST
Subs – Jasmine & Olivia
It’s always windy in Coalville, but the sunshine helped make it a bright Spring morning and this seemed to inspire a tremendously bright start from the girls.
Immediately from kick-off, Rugby piled forwards and won an early corner. This was taken by Anya and evaded everyone including the goalkeeper as it went in off the far post. This stunned Coalville and Rugby continued to push forwards with Sophia, Annabelle and Erin linking up really well and creating shooting opportunities, with Chloe hitting a great long range effort that the keeper scrambled away.
Ruby started in defence in a sweeper style role, which allowed her to see more of the game playing out in front of her and her range and accuracy of passing brought the other girls in to the attack. Anya was again dominating the midfield, in what became an increasingly physical match with some committed tackling from both sides and the need for a couple of ‘drop ball’ situations to be taken.
The midfield continued to have quick passing moves that were frustrating Coalville and they remained strong as some gamesmanship came into play. A noticeable increase in tempo meant faster throw-ins being taken and quick distribution from Liv in goal, and this kept the pressure up on the opponents. With the first round of substitutions, Olivia demonstrated her usual calm commitment in defence, with outstanding positioning and linking up to midfield, with a through ball to Jasmine which brought a smart save from the keeper. From the resulting corner, the ball broke to Annabelle on the edge of the area and her sweetly struck shot went high into the net on the stroke of half time.
The second half was again dominated by the Rugby midfield, with Ruby and Sophia on the wings demonstrating fantastic dribbling and crossing in attacking positions and both Erin and Chloe had chances that were well saved. There were inventive corner routines and good passing using the wide areas and a greater tactical approach.
On the rare occasions that Coalville managed to break past the midfield, Olivia and Anya were covering the space and clearing with authority which meant Liv had a relatively quiet game in goal. However, she was called upon to make some good catches and was always alert to any danger as she maintained a clean sheet.
As the game entered the last few minutes, a delightful pass from Erin over the defence found Jasmine on the edge of the area, and there’s nothing quite like a beautifully taken left foot half-volley that nutmegs the goalkeeper to bring a smile to your face as Rugby progress to the cup semifinal.
Ruby – Parents Player
Olivia – Coaches player