The U10's produced their best performance of the season in difficult circumstances to secure another win. Stamford Bridge came to the cricket club 2nd in the league and challenging for top spot. Early ohn they showed why as they battered our goal and went 1-0 up after only 3 minutes. We feared the worst with Charlotte H and Jess both carrying knocks and having to be substituted and Charlotte Mc coming off as she was too poorly to carry on. However the girls showed their fighting spirit and gradually took the game to the opposition with both the slope and the wind against them. Ellie became more and more of a force in midfield and Olivia shuttled between defence and midfield very effectively and Sophie did a sterling job when she came on for the wonded soldiers. These provided the ammunition for Saffy to grab an equaliser. This and the half time whistle provided the girls with some respite and we had the elements in our favour in the second half. In spite of this we were soon under pressure and Lizzie produced a series of welcome saves and some great clearances to keep us in the game. Having held out, a fine pass from Ellie set Saffy free and she showed her class in front of goal to slot past the keeper. On the touchline the parents shouted their encouragement and Jess and Vicky were to the fore in blunting Stamford Bridge attacks and prompting us forward. We held on, despite the post being hit and in the last minute Lizzie turned a fierce shot round the post to secure a fabulous win.
In the friendly, the 9 a side and the wind made flowing football very difficult and we found the Stmford teams size difficult to compete with. Ian did a superb job of ensuring all 12 of our girls got a game and we turned round 0-0 at half time. SOphie and Georgie combined well in midfield and Molly was player of the day for her outstanding contribution in defence. The girls from the development squad gave valuable support to Elizabeth and Rose. Eventually the greater physicality of the Stamford team showed and we couldn't continue our run of winning both games.
Well done to all the girls for 2 fantastic matches, I'm so proud of all of you!
Next week we are training. 9.45 start and the following week we go to York RI for the cup semi Final.
Eddie
