Westbury Park Foxes U15 Girls 4
Whitchurch Sports 0
 |
| The Foxes model the new home shirts |
Every season without fail, when the pampered millionaires of
the Premier League moan about having to crawl out of their luxury beds and play
3 matches in 8 days over Christmas, there are "calls for a winter
break".
The Foxes are, of course, ahead of the game in this respect.
With their last match having been as long ago as 26th November 2017, they had
practically forgotten what a full-sized pitch looked like. Two postponements, a
'bye week' and the intervening Christmas period gave the girls ample time to reflect
on their stellar 2017, fuel up on food and drink and even frolic around in the
brief dusting of snow over the holiday. They also fitted in a riotous Christmas
activity fun day at Mojo Active, at which Millie showed a rare talent for
'football golf', and no-one showed much talent for 5-a-side while suspended
upside down in plastic 'Zorbs'....
 |
| Zorb football at Mojo Active, December 2017 |
After a 2 week warm weather break in Lanzarote, to
participate in a prestigious four-way tournament with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich
and Bristol Rovers...or maybe just a bit of training on the Downs...they were
finally back into action on their home turf of BAWA, with a new year fixture
against a much-improved Whitchurch side.
"Turf" might have been putting it a bit too highly.
With a 'full house' of boys' teams on the front pitches, and some middle-aged
men kicking lumps out of each other next to us, we were ushered onto the far
away sloping bog, with scenic views of industrial buildings and a quantity of
cigarette ends dumped in the goalmouth. No matter - with a full squad,
resplendent in the shiny new kit [pictured] courtesy of our lovely new sponsor
BPC (Bristol Property Centre) - for all your estate agency needs in Redland and
the wider Bristol area- the first match
of 2018 was eagerly awaited.
Kicking off uphill and into a slight breeze in the first
half, the Foxes' build up play was at times intricate and pleasing on the eye.
Rhiannon, Lulu and Ella combined nicely on the right, while Emily and Ellie
were frequently putting Georgia in down the left. There was just one problem.
What were those big white wooden things with the fishing nets hanging on them?
Might the object of the game be to hit the ball towards them in some way?
Perhaps, but let's pass it around in the box a bit more, then politely let the
Whitchurch keeper have some more touches and holds of the ball. As the half
wore on, and the game remained goalless, the old saying in these parts -
"the Foxes are always a lot better when they score an early goal" -
began to enter the spectators' minds. Whitchurch had not created much, and
either Abby or the offside flag were dealing with their occasional long balls
forward, but the Foxes were not taking enough shots or gambling on rebounds.
One counter-attack or rare error and they could be facing a very uncomfortable
morning.
Then Georgia, showing no nerves despite her every move being
filmed by Mum Karen for GCSE assessment purposes, took matters into her own
hands. Breaking through once again on the left side, then cutting in onto her
right foot, her first shot was bravely parried by the keeper, but she followed
in to lash home the rebound - for a 1-0 lead and surely an A* (or an 8 or 9 in
modern currency) for "taking the game by the scruff of the neck, while
also displaying the advanced skills required by the syllabus".
The teams turned at half time with the Foxes just one goal to the good, but one sensed that the brave visitors had put in a lot of effort to keep it at that, and might tire in the mud in the second half. So it proved, as the Foxes gradually took control and began to break through with increasing menace and speed. Zoe, after a frustrating first half being heavily marked and shadowed, was finding more freedom, and was joined by the lively raids of Amelia and Molly. With attacks on both flanks, increasing midfield dominance provided by Lulu, Ellie and Olivia, and the speedy 'Mill-Ab-Rhi-Em' defence effortlessly mopping up any through balls then launching immediate counters, it was only a matter of time. The second goal came immediately after the visitors' most dangerous attack, when a rare beating of the defensive line forced Betty into a comfortable but important stop. From the roll out, a lightning succession of passes down the right between Abby, Rhiannon and Lulu sent Ella speeding in, to finish in style. Whitchurch heads never dropped, but as they became increasingly camped in their own half, facing a succession of corners, number three followed when Zoe deservedly slammed home from close range in the aftermath of an uncleared corner.
The teams turned at half time with the Foxes just one goal to the good, but one sensed that the brave visitors had put in a lot of effort to keep it at that, and might tire in the mud in the second half. So it proved, as the Foxes gradually took control and began to break through with increasing menace and speed. Zoe, after a frustrating first half being heavily marked and shadowed, was finding more freedom, and was joined by the lively raids of Amelia and Molly. With attacks on both flanks, increasing midfield dominance provided by Lulu, Ellie and Olivia, and the speedy 'Mill-Ab-Rhi-Em' defence effortlessly mopping up any through balls then launching immediate counters, it was only a matter of time. The second goal came immediately after the visitors' most dangerous attack, when a rare beating of the defensive line forced Betty into a comfortable but important stop. From the roll out, a lightning succession of passes down the right between Abby, Rhiannon and Lulu sent Ella speeding in, to finish in style. Whitchurch heads never dropped, but as they became increasingly camped in their own half, facing a succession of corners, number three followed when Zoe deservedly slammed home from close range in the aftermath of an uncleared corner.
That seemed to kill the game as a contest, and the Foxes could relax into their game a little more, enjoying the increased time and space to make some very fine multi-pass moves and test the excellent Whitchurch keeper several times. The icing on the cake was provided when Abby, powering forward from the back, received a short pass in space just outside the box then leathered an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net.
The remainder of the game was played out without too much drama. More chances came and went, but a heavy beating would have been harsh on the visitors, who contributed greatly to an entertaining and sporting game, and were very much in contention for most of it.
So a winning and eventually comfortable start to 2018, but
with quite a bit of fixture catching up to do before the season's end. There
were many good performances throughout the team (immortalised on video by
Karen, presumably with commemorative DVDs on sale later in the year), but for
her usual ice-cool, strong and authoritative defensive mastery, capped with an
outstanding goal, the first 2018 girl of the game was Abby.
Next match: AEK Boco (away)
Girl of the Game: Abby
Captain of the week: Lulu (despite her black shorts)
0 comments:
Post a Comment