Sunday 25th February
Team Sponsors: Oxygen Graphics, Big Wave Campers, ADOS Group Ltd, Eclipse Clean and Life Investment Estate Agents,
Your Rugby Town U13’s Team for this match:
GK – Immie
DF – Annabelle
DF – Olivia
DF – Elsie
CM – Ruby
CM – Ava
LM – Chloe
RM – Sophia
ST – Japjeevan
Subs – Emily
An early Sunday morning start clearing the frost off car windscreens and remembering where the gloves and scarves were before setting off up the M1 for the U13’s in the first round of the Cup competition away to Markfield. Whilst only a relatively short drive for the girls based in Rugby, it was a longer haul for those based in Leamington of about 80 miles and what felt like -4C in temperature. Thankfully the hike from the car park to the pitch warmed everyone up but with a smaller squad to choose from the girls were going to need to put in a big performance as both teams are evenly matched in the league with almost identical records as each other.
The early exchanges demonstrated the similarity between the two teams, with Markfield going on the attack straightaway and a strong decisive tackle from Annabelle denied the opportunity for a shot on target. Rather than simply launching the ball forward, it was great to see more composure on the ball and a confident pass went out wide to Chloe (who has really started to flourish in her new wider role) who then played a through ball for Japjeevan to run on to before the defender was able to intervene. The Markfield Midfield (easier to type than it is to say…) were playing well and creating space for their attackers, and Elsie made the first of several strong clearances to deny the quick forward and Immie demonstrated her growing confidence in covering her goalkeeping area with some excellent clearances. The centre of the pitch was becoming overloaded with players and Ruby, Ava and Sophia were able to play some nice triangles of passing as they looked to find a way to get out wide and past the high press. Sophia was able to make a strong direct run at goal, but was denied by an excellent save.
The action was briefly put on pause for a ‘Laces Break’ with around 12 girls all needing to tie their laces at the same time and Markfield made their first round of substitutions during this time, and the stronger bench was to prove a key factor in the match. Markfield had a sustained period of attack that brought the best out of Immie, with some incredible saves and great handling from close range shots and crosses. On the occasion when the ball evaded her, she showed great commitment and strength in making a last-ditch clearance that in the absence of VAR was under no circumstances a penalty in any way shape or form…. From the resulting corner, a long clearance down field found Sophia, who delivered a delightful cross which Chloe met on the volley and was unlucky to see her shot go just wide.
The first substitution saw Emily come on and she immediately showed her strong running and hard work in trying to win the ball back for Rugby. A ball out wide saw Markfield again go on the attack and the calm assurance that we’ve come to expect from Olivia saw the ball being cleared to Ruby, our very own midfield general who has the passing ability and the tenacity to boss the centre of the pitch. She can also hit a terrific shot, and its something that the crowd wants to see more of and both her, Emily and Ava had opportunities to test the goalkeeper but were guilty of not hitting the ball first time and giving the defenders time to recover and whilst Japjeevan was making good runs into space, the final touch just wouldn’t fall kindly for her
The girls were starting to tire towards the end of the first half and Elsie, Olivia and Annabelle continued to keep the Markfield attackers in check through their hard work and excellent covering. On the stroke of half-time there was a mistimed tackle from Ava that led to a free-kick for Markfield, and landing on the cold hard pitch would have been painful so it was great to see her checking on the welfare of her opponent and excellent sports ladyship being shown.
The opportunity to catch their breath at half time was needed, and the parents were passing around the Hot Hands ™ hand warmers (currently £5.44 on Amazon and worth every penny…). The first action of the 2nd half saw Japjeevan playing out wide and delivering a delightful cross for Emily to shoot from inside the area with the ball then ricocheting out to Ava who’s shot just brushed past the post. Ruby was playing some great passes to Sophia and Emily, who were linking up well with Japjeevan in creating space for others to run into. Chloe made another of her attacking runs and her shot was well saved. A long ball clearance from the Markfield goalkeeper found the striker through on goal and as she prepared to shoot, a superb goal saving tackle from Elsie was widely applauded by both sets of parents. A goal mouth scramble from the resulting corner gave Immie the opportunity to show her confidence in claiming the ball and clearing quickly, with Japjeevan unlucky to be flagged offside as she put the ball past the goalkeeper.
By having more substitutes to call upon, Markfield were rotating their players more frequently and starting to push further up the pitch. By using a 2-4-4 formation, they were able to overload the midfield and put more pressure on the defence. All three of the girls – Elsie, Annabelle, and Olivia – were working well as a unit in dealing with the increasing goal threat from the Markfield forward line but an unlucky bounce saw a 4 vs. 3 situation and a strong shot that Immie was unable to stop from hitting the back of the net for 0:1.
The response from the Rugby girls was what we have come to expect, with hard work and commitment to try and find the equaliser. Sophia made some good runs and played some terrific passes inside for Ruby and Ava to test the goalkeeper. Ava and Emily had some excellent passing moves between them and Japjeevan continued to be the goal threat that she brings to the team, she just wasn’t quite fast enough or on one occasion tall enough, to beat the goalkeeper. The commitment being shown was demonstrated with a tangle between the forwards and the goalkeeper leaving Chloe on the floor and a bump to the head that required the Director of Football to bring the ice packs on and left her unable to continue.
The final few minutes were incredibly tense, with Rugby pushing to find the equaliser that would have taken the match to a penalty shootout. Having given so much, with legs tiring and energy levels being sapped, Markfield were able to hit on the break and score a 2nd goal and the match finished 0:2.
Coaches Player of the Match – Immie
Parents Player of the Match – As an indication of the effort of all the girls, we had 6 different nominations from 6 different parents and so it was decided to not award a Parents Player for this match but instead to highlight the outstanding play of Immie in goal.
A great atmosphere and friendly rivalry with Sporting Markfield and a closely contested match that was played in the right spirit throughout. Thank you as always to the referee and officials and the parents from both teams who braved the cold weather and early start.
Brought to you by Rugby Town (Part Time) ©Sportswriter of the Year 2023
