Squad: Millie, Norah, Bella, Ellie, Poppy, Olivia, Annalise
Sponsor: Lightning Tools
This week the under 9s travelled to Anstey. We haven’t played this team before so it was nice to go into a game with no expectations.
It was a warm sunning morning, and the girls were raring to go after a good training session on Friday. By not playing this team previously we didn’t know what sort of game we were going into, but we learnt very quickly after kick off we were in for a tough game.
Anstey played a very good passing game which caused havoc for Poppy in defence and Norah in goal. Despite some great tackles and some fantastic saves Anstey managed to celebrate multiple times.
Rugby carried on pressing the Anstey defenders however could not break through. Millie and Bella did well in midfield at the start to get back and help Poppy defend against the 3 Anstey attackers that flooded the box.
Norah’s goal kicks created some chances for Olivia upfront to run onto which pushed Anstey back into their own half. It was a good game for us to practice our defending. We had a lot of corners to defend which is what we practiced on Friday, so it was nice to see the practice working well.
After a couple of changes saw Ellie and Annalise enter the pitch to see if we can apply anymore pressure to Anstey.
Half time led to some very clear instructions, and we went to having 2 defenders at the back.
Rugby came out after half time and didn’t let Anstey have any thinking time on the ball which didn’t allow them to pass the ball around us half as much. This gave the Rugby girls a breather as well as creating many more chances.
The girls began to really work as a team with Bella and Poppy playing some great passes down the line for Millie and Ellie to run onto. Millie and Ellie made sure they were making space for themselves in the box to receive the cross.
Norah came back on into defence and made some great tackles and passes out from the back. The passing and teamwork proved too much for Anstey and Rugby were finally able to celebrate.
Annalise entered the pitch again and chased down every ball. She also got herself into good positions to be an option. Just before full time Norah picked the ball up from defence and dribbled it past the Anstey team all the way to the opposition goal only to be denied by the keeper.
Really unlucky game for Rugby but they gave it their best go and we know what to expect for next time.
Parents player: Norah for some brave saves in goal and a great display in defence.
Managers player: Ellie for chasing down everything and carrying on even though she had been hurt.
Special mention to Annalise who made her debut for Rugby Town this week she has settled in well. And to the Anstey coach and ref who were lovely and gave a lot of praise to the Rugby girls