On a VERY windy morning at the Cricket Pitch the U12 Girls battled to a very hard fought 2-1 victory against a much improved Ilkley side who were unlucky in the end to lose. Our win was thanks to two fine goals by Chloe in the first half and some great goalkeeping by Sam in the second half when we were playing into the wind.
The first half saw a bit of a nervy start and Ilkley made the early pressure but Scotton then began to find some passes and made the wind work to their advantage. Ilkley held out until about ten mins to half time when Chloe made a break onto a great ball over the top of the defense and finished in fine style. A few minutes later Chloe scored an even better one having won possession, gone past the defender and finished from a tight angle. A special mention goes to Molly for her first half performance where she well in defense and made a couple of outstanding tackles when Ilkley threatened our goal.
The second half was more difficult as the wind was into our faces but lots of hard work in midfield, particularly from Ella and supported well by Emily and Steph, meant that we held our 2-0 lead. We then brought Lowenna on for her first ever league game with 20 mins to go, which after only playing football from the beginning of this season is a great achievement.
The team continued to play well but Ilkley were gaining more and more possession and Sam needed to be on top form to keep out three or four great chances that Ilkley created. Eventually with less than 10 minutes to go, Ilkley got a deserved goal and Scotton had to defend well and keep possession in order that Ilkley did not snatch a draw. Scotton did this well, tightened up and ran out 2-1 winners.
Chloe was named player of the match but it was a close thing between Chloe, Ella, Sam and Molly.
Well done girls on our first league victory of the season, next up is Knaresborough away on 17th October!
