The U14's first league game for two months saw them playing away against Poppleton Tigers.
The first half saw the ball moving up and down the pitch, but with Scotton gradually gaining an ascendancy. Pressure from the forwards (Georgia putting in her usual battling performance in the centre, supported by Ciara and with Molly and Georgie coming in from the wings) soon saw shots heading for the Tigers' goal, culminating after 20 minutes with a strike from Georgie which beat the keeper: 0-1.
Though Poppleton came back strongly the defence (Ellie, Hannah, Riah, Becky S and Jayde in goal) put in a very good performance that saw each attack smothered and the ball quickly pushed back up to the forwards, allowing Ciara to find space and come close to a second goal just before half time.
The second half saw Riah go into goal and Becky C come on to join the defence, and Scotton being faced by a resurgent Poppleton and a strengthening wind. Despite continuing to press forward a further goal eluded the Scorchers, while the Tigers managed to break through and score twice in the final ten minutes, ending the game 2-1 up.
Despite this disappointment there were a lot of positives in the game, with the league leaders being more than matched by Scotton most of the time.
Player of the match: Georgia
