Rugby Town Women v Worcester City Devs

Rugby Town Women v Worcester City Dev

West Midlands Regional Women Division 1 South – League Game

Sunday 26^th November    

Squad:  Katie (Captain) Leah, Caitlin, Loren, Nicole, Kelly, Grace, Kelsey, Millie, Amber, Ava

Substitutes: Ellie, Loren, Naomi, Laura M.

Sponsor: Melbros, Jamesway Travel, Keller, ASG Precision, Gripper Differentials and Life Investments Estate Agents

First Half

Rugby started in their now familiar formation of 4-3-3. It was a bright opening few minutes for Rugby with a couple of early corners.  However, the home side could not convert these opportunities into goals, which then heralded a somewhat scrappy first half where Rugby struggled to keep their passes under control.  Despite generally being in charge of the game, there was not as much generated in the Worcester final third as the home side would have liked.

Worcester also won a few corners in the first half, none we of particular concern and well managed by Leah and the Rugby defence of Grace, Amber, Caitlin and Katie.

Around the 20-minute mark, the Rugby trio of Nicole, Kelsey and Ava put some nice moves together and generated the first opportunity to attack the Worcester goal, Ava shooting just wide.

Another Rugby corner, delivered by Grace, saw Katie rise and get her head on the ball, but nodding it wide of the opposition goal.  Kelly and Kirsty also paired up for their chance on goal, but Kirsty’s shot was well collected by the Worcester keeper.

23’ Kelsey <-> Loren

Nicole had a blazing solo run and her quick feet allowed for another shot on target, again just wide of the upright.

Worcester were quick and dangerous on the counter attack, using their wing play well.   Their forwards put significant pressure on a slightly disorganised Rugby back line and opened the scoreline just past the 30-minute mark.

31’ Millie <-> Laura M

Rugby were still looking a bit uncomfortable and were making things a little hard on themselves.   Respite came in the form of a foul on Nicole, earning Rugby a free kick and the Worcester player a yellow card.

The pause in play gave Rugby a little breathing space to collect themselves.  Ava, Kelsey and Loren developed play to allow Loren a shot on goal, the ball straight to the keeper who held it well to stop that play.

As the half time whistle blew, Rugby retreated to the dressing room 0-1 down for a discussion on changes needed to make more of an impact in the second half.

Second Half

Its fair to say the second half did not get off to the start desired with Worcester increasing the gap with their second goal inside 2 minutes of the game restarting. Work to do now for Rugby!

Rugby’s passing and movement around the pitch finally started to improve and pay off with Caitlin and Loren displaying some great moved high in the midfield, and pushing forwards, only to see Loren’s shot saved by the keeper.

Worcester then formulated an impressive break and screamed down the pitch, Rugby scrambling to catch up.   Worcester were unlucky, much to Rugby’s relief to see the shot just wide of the Rugby goal.

53’ Ava <-> Ellie

Caitlin, now out of defence into a more attacking role, was working really hard in midfield to develop some positive play and finishing, her shot wide.

59’ Kirsty <-> Naomi

Worcester were proving feisty again and had 2 shots in quick succession, both wide thankfully.

Rugby pushed back and were up in the Worcester defensive area, Nicole frustrating the defenders with her dribbling skills and taking a shot from a tight angle, leaving the Worcester keeper no option than to punch it away for a corner.  Loren delivered the ball in and some good work from Worcester saw them clear the ball.

Nicole again in the middle of the action, this time working with Kelly.  Kelly found great space and released her shot, once again Rugby were foiled by the Worcester keeper.

Rugby finally seemed to be gaining momentum and this was shown just past the hour, when and Nicole and Katie combo saw Rugby pull a goal back, courtesy of Katie. GOAL

71’ Loren <-> Kelsey

Rugby were now putting much more pressure on Worcester who were starting to look a little flustered.   Ellie was holding the midfield well with well timed tackles and some lovely balls up the field, allowing the forwards to create the space they needed to get the shots off.  Caitlin was going about her business and again, put in some hard work to get into a shooting position, just wide if the target.

80’ Naomi <-> Millie

With Rugby still trailing 1-2,  “something” happened.  We don’t know what it was, or where it came from,  but all of a sudden, Rugby were rampant!

In the space of 15 mins Rugby had a least 5 shots. Better than that, 2 were on target, and even better than that, 2 were not saved!

Nicole -> Keeper

Grace -> Nicole GOAL

Nicole -> Over

Nicole -> Katie GOAL

Kelsey -> Wide

Despite evidence to the contrary, Rugby do actually practice shooting in training.   With a little more work and improvement on accuracy, their shot v goal ration should improve dramatically, they get into great shooting positions, just need that final touch.

Summary

A fantastic final 20 minutes saw Rugby come from 0-2 down to taking the 3 points.  Their energy, determination and teamwork needed to grind out the win was inspiring to see.

Rugby Town 3 – 2 Long Worcester City Devs

The win sees Rugby climb a place in the league table – moving from 9^th to 5^th in 2 weeks.   We travel to Alvechurch for next week’s league game.

Thank you to Referee Michael, Linesman James and for the support at Butlin Road today.  The team really appreciate it.3403e0c5-8baf-670f-6da8-775f210258e4@yahoo.com>”>
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