The U14's encounter with Fulford proved to be a story of two halves, with some tremendous football played in glorious sunshine.
Scotton dominated the first half with a team effort that kept the Foxes pinned down and looking like they were unable to respond. Early pressure led to shots from Molly and Becky S, then twelve minutes into the match Georgie flicked the ball to Molly who put it away for Scotton's first goal.
The Scorchers continued to push at Fulford, with Ellie, Hannah and Riah coming forward to support the attack. Though the Foxes managed to break out at one point, Scotton quickly recovered the ball and a lovely team movement culminated with a great cross from Molly to Georgie, who calmly drove the ball past the Fulford keeper for Scotton's second goal. A few minutes later another run led to a further strike from Georgie, which was just pushed wide of the post.
So the first half ended with Scotton looking in control of the game, and Fulford perhaps feeling relieved not to be further behind: Unfortunately things weren't to go quite so well in the second part of the match. Though the Scorchers continued to press forward and to test the (very good) Fulford keeper with shots from Jayde, Katie, Becky S and even a lob from Hannah that came close to target, a certain amount of cohesion seemed to have been lost which allowed the Foxes to get back into the game. First a thrust mid way through the second half led to Fulford pulling a goal back, then a couple of minutes from full time a run from midfield and a great shot brought the Foxes an equalizer.
Scotton immediately rallied and Ellie had a last blast at goal, but the final whistle saw the score end at 2-2.
Given the commitmen they'd shown it was clear that the girls were disappointed to finish with a draw. However they'd played skillful, entertaining and effective team football against good opposition, which was not only a pleasure to watch but also bodes well for future matches.
Player of the match: Ellie.
