Sunday 2nd October 2022
Sponsor: FORD Bros building & Electrical.
Squad: Alice, Amelia, Beth, El, Jess, Katie, Lena, Lola, Macy, Maddie, Matilda, Poppy, Ruby.
Rugby Town u12 Lionesses travelled away to Cosby for their third away game in a row. Rugby were in a confident mood having won their first two games of the season.
Beth stepped into goal today due to Rugby’s regular keeper being unavailable. To play behind a back three of Alice, Lena and Maddie who from the very start were working well as a unit and winning tackles to stop Cosby in their tracks.
Ruby, also rotated into defence and had an equally strong game, even winning a few balls in the air, heading them clear.
With the Rugby defence keeping a strong line, this allowed the Rugby midfield to stay forward, and pass the ball around well. Katie was distributing the ball really well to the wide players from the holding midfield position.
Rugby are blessed with a great group of wingers on both sides of the pitch.. These wide players were a constant threat, but equally effective when defending any counter attacks…..these players were El, Poppy, Lola and Macy who were able to rotate without effecting their great forward play. Having the ability to bring on fresh wingers is a great bonus, and this showed as the game went on. The wide players were being able to use this, to maintain strong runs into the final third, and some lovely passing into the opposition goal area.
The Rugby attack was led by Jess and Matilda, who from the very start had the Cosby defence on its heels. Both girls had a couple of early chances, which required committed blocks by the Cosby defenders. Both girls continued to work hard throughout the game, and this was to be rewarded later in the game.
The break through finally came, and Rugby were 1 nil up.
Cosby did not allow their heads to drop and were still in the fight…and the score remained the same for some time, with Cosby holding off the Rugby attack.
Amelia come on mid way through the first half, and these fresh legs and pace, caused the Cosby defence to concede a number of goals in quick succession.
Half time 0-4.
Rugby started second half with the bit between their teeth, and were pressing the Cosby players at every opportunity, and caused a number of errors and missed passes.
The squad was again rotated during the second half, and every player took full advantage of this and slotted in and out of the game without effecting the flow of their play…this can be put down to a combination of good team dynamics, understanding of team tactics and efforts in training.
Rugby went on to score 6 more goals in the second half without reply, and Cosby just couldn’t get a chance on the Rugby goal.
It was great to see the goals scored by a number of players, again showing rewards from work in training, that they work well as a team, and their strength in depth that the girls can rotate but maintain their performance.
Goal scorers on the day:
Jess 4, Matilda 2, Amelia 2, Poppy 1, Alice 1
Final score.. 0-10
Parents player: Amelia, for a great performance in the centre of the pitch, with some lovely passes into the Rugby strikers, as well as a couple of important early goals.
Managers player: Lola for a lovely performance in both halves, and winning some important tackles high up the pitch. Also with some great passes into the Rugby attack, directly leading to at least a couple of goals.
Thank you to Pete for assisting and running the line, and thanks to the parents for their fantastic support of the girls.