The Scorchers lost the toss and Celtic chose to play into the strong wind in the first half, giving the Scorchers the opportunity to use the wind to their advantage but knowing that they would have to play into the wind in the second half. The teams lined up with Sam in goal, Lowenna and Georgina in defence, Jes and Honor in midfield and Chloe and Emily up front. This looked like a strong side but they would have to be at their best to beat this good Knaresborough side.
The game kicked off and all went to plan, the team kept their shape, passed the ball well, created chances and worked hard to win the ball back when needed. Both teams created early chances but the defence was assured and Sam had another great game in goal commanding her area well. In attack chances came and went with Emily and Chloe both testing the keeper with Chloe almost lobbing the keeper from near the half way line, using the wind to her advantage. Grace came on to replace Jes and Eloise replaced Georgina and both slotted in well and the team remained strong and purposeful.
The best chance of the half came from a drilled Chloe corner which was not cleared and fell to Honor who rifled a shot towards goal only for a Celtic defender to clear off the line. So despite one of the best team performances of the season the score remained 0-0 at half time
As the teams turned round it was clear that the Celtic girls were happy to still be on level terms. They now had the advantage of the wind and almost straight from the kick off they created a chance which was not cleared by the defence and an unstoppable shot found the bottom corner to make it 0-1.
Celtic took confidence from this lead and the Scotton heads dropped a little and a second goal soon followed, in almost the same fashion. Scotton lost their shape a little and had to do a great deal of defending as the Celtic team pressed. Chances at the other end were few and far between and the game was played more and more in the Scorchers half. Defending was the name of the game by this stage and great work by Lowenna, Georgina and Elouise, plus midfield tracking by Grace, Honor and Jes all contributed to a great defensive effort. Chloe tracked back and helped out, continuing to look for Emily who tried to play as high as possible to at least create some space in midfield to play in when the chance came.
Celtic were to score a great third goal late on with a great bit of skill on the right side with a inch perfect pass across goal which was finished by the Celtic striker.
3-0 was a little bit flattering for Celtic but they were the better team and deserved the win. However the Scorchers can be proud of their team performance, particularly in the first half. Chloe was awarded player of the match for her efforts in midfield, but there were outstanding performances from Sam in goal, Lowenna in a tough defensive role and Honor in a solid midfield performance.
