CroftU13’s Vs. Rugby Town U13’s
Sunday 24thSeptember
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Your Rugby Town U13’s Team for this match:
GK – Immie, DF – Esme, DF – Olivia, DF – Elsie, CM – Ruby, RM – Japjeevan, LM – Ava, CAM – Sophia, ST – Chloe, Subs – Erin, Emily, Annabelle
Following an extended International break, we said goodbyeto the glorious weather of a couple of weeks ago and were met by the drizzleand mizzle of an Autumn morning as we made the journey over to Stony Stanton toplay Croft. Having managed to navigate past the house that everyone’s Sat Navwas determined to take us to, the smell of fresh coffee and bacon rolls helpedlift the mood of everyone and confidence was high.
With a full squad to choose from, the Director of Footballselected a more conventional line-up and this was rewarded with a fast startfrom the girls with Ava making the first of her great attacking runs and Rugbywinning a corner within the first 30 seconds, followed by Chloe making a strongrun and shot from the edge of the area which brought a good save from the Croftgoalkeeper. A long ball clearance found the quick left winger, and Elsietracked back well and made a decisive tackle to clear the danger. Theconditions were tricky for everyone and the midfield was quickly becoming thearea that was seeing the most action, with Ruby working hard to try to createchances for her teammates. An unlucky bounce fell kindly to the Croft forwardwho showed great pace in getting into the area and firing a close range shotthat brought out an absolutely world class save from Immie.
It was great to hear the girls being more vocal with eachother, and hearing Immie organising her defenders at the corner with Olivia andEsme showing their calm defending skills in clearing the ball with a fastbreak. Some lovely 1-2 passing between Ava and Chloe created another shootingopportunity and another corner for Rugby. A terrific delivery from Sophia ledto a goal mouth scramble with Japjeevan showing good close control and broughtout a good save once again.
The conditions were getting heavier and the first wave ofsubstitutions brought on Emily and Erin to provide energy and pace on the wingsand Annabelle to bring some defensive bite into the midfield. Croft made aquick break and a somewhat dubious offside flag led to a free kick to Rugby,with Erin making one of her hallmark long ball passes through to Japjeevan whotook an early shot from the edge of the area that was again well saved.
From the resulting goal kick, a long clearance found theCroft striker in acres of space and she finished smartly into the Rugby net; however,the Assistant Referee redeemed himself with an absolutely 100% accurate andcorrect offside flag which ruled this out and the crowd were quick to showtheir appreciation to the officials and to Esme, Olivia, and Elsie for theirdefensive shape. Feeling somewhat aggrieved, the Croft players were making somestrong tackles in midfield and the left winger demonstrated her pace once againwith a direct run and shot that again Immie saved, but she was unlucky to see therebound fall to a Croft player to poke the ball home for a 1:0 scoreline. Thefinal action of the half saw Sophia making a strong run down the wing,Japjeevan taking a strong shot and Sophia attempting an audacious attempt fromout wide.
The 2nd half kicked off with Ruby and Emily linking up well,and a through ball down the left found Erin who made a fantastic run into thebox and unleashed an unstoppable shot that flew into the net for a tremendousequalizer. This inspired the girls and saw the start of some tremendous passingplay in midfield, with Annabelle and Ruby linking up well in controlling thecentre of the pitch and Emily and Ava taking on their defenders in creatingopportunities for Chloe up front. Esme made a great clearance for Japjeevan torun on to and her cross was superbly met by Ruby with a first time shot thatwas blocked on the line. In her new defensive midfield position, Annabelle wasbreaking up play and showed her passing quality by finding Sophia who made afantastic run and shot that was well saved once again.
From the corner, Emily showed great determination in losingher marker and taking a shot that was scrambled away. This more attackingapproach is what the fans of Rugby U13’s has been wanting to see, with morechances being created and more shots being taken. Sophia was starting to showmore of her dribbling qualities and was identified by Croft as the dangerplayer that needed to be marked closely and some great battles were takingplace between her and her opponent. One mistimed tackle that was shin to shinled to winces on the touchline as both girls went down hurt, but served as atimely reminder as to why shinpads are compulsory. From the resulting freekick, Ruby hit a brilliant free kick that was again blocked on the line andChloe had her shot cleared away, Emily saw her shot blocked by a defender andErin saw her shot go just wide.
Rugby was pushing hard up the field and a long ballclearance from Croft took an awkward bounce off the uneven surface that thegirls in defence were unlucky to be deceived by and Immie was powerless to stopthe close-range shot being put away by the forward for a 2:1 scoreline that wasvery much against the run of play. Elsie and Esme made some nice passes to themidfielders to push forwards, Ruby and Erin were linking up well and Avacontinued to battle against her defender. The big difference was that thepassing was much better rather than just taking on their players and this wasdemonstrated by Emily playing a delightful cross from the left wing toJapjeevan in the centre who showed her shooting prowess with a great shot fromthe edge of the area that she smashed into the net for a deserved equaliser tomake the score 2:2. The final chance of the match fell to Ruby, who neverstopped running the entire match, and she was unlucky to see her shot take ahorrible bobble of the surface and go agonisingly wide at the final whistle.
Overall, a draw felt like a fair result in a match where theperformance was excellent and Annabelle did not quite achieve her own personalhat-trick against Croft – that will just have to wait for the return matchlater in the season.
Coaches Player of the Match – Ruby
Parents Player of the Match – Emily
Thank you as always to the referee and officials, whodemonstrated exactly what we want to see with the match being played in a greatspirit by both sides.
Brought to you by Rugby Town Sportswriter of the Year 2023©
