Our first match of the season with a new face (Alice) on the pitch. Scotton were raring to go after a well earned summer break.
The starting team formation for the match was as follows - Lizzy goal, Jess & Alice defense, Molly right wing, Ellie left wing, Jasmine central midfield, Ebony striker, Cora sub.
Five minutes into the match and Scotton had their first corner. Poppletons goal keeper pulled off a great save and play quickly pushed down to the other end of the pitch. Poppleton's striker put in a cross which went wide of the goal.
A big kick out of the goal area from Jess saw the ball go to Ebony who passed it wide to Ellie. Ellie managed to battle past two of Poppletons defense and took a shot at goal. The ball rattled off the post and back out into the hands of their goal keeper, a very near miss.
Poppleton then had a chance of their own but unfortunately for them, the ball flew into the net through a hole in the side!!!! Their coach quickly rectified the problem and play was resumed.
In a battle near the Poppleton goal, our new defender Alice, won the ball and kicked it out of danger. Poppletons corner was quickly picked up by Lizzy in goal and fired down to Molly on the right hand side. Poppleton's defenders kicked the ball out of play so Molly took a Scotton throw in. Again Poppleton's defence battled with our strikers and a corner was awarded to Scotton. Jasmine crossed in a great corner which Ebony managed to get her head onto, but again it went wide. Cora (on the bench) and Amber (out of action) provide continuous encouragement to their team mates, but half time saw the score remain 0-0.
After a team chat at half time, the Scorchers returned to the pitch with more determination.
Poppleton had an early corner which put Lizzy to the test on her debut league appearance in goal and she pulled off a great save!
But within a few minutes Poppleton managed to fire the ball through to score their first goal: 1-0.
Scotton kept their heads up and continued to press forward.
Poppleton put the ball out of play and again Jasmine crossed in a great corner.
Unfortunately none of the Scotton players managed to get their heads to the ball and the goalie saved it.
With 10 minutes of play remaining Cora entered the pitch to give Molly a rest on the right hand side.
Cora quickly got involved in the play and managed to pass the ball through to Jasmine and then to Ebony.
A foul on Ebony resulted in a free kick to Scotton Scorchers, just outside the area.
With only minutes to go captain Jasmine West powered in a great shot which landed in the back of the net.
Score 1-1.
Play continued to be equally matched for the final few minutes until the ref blew his whistle.
Final score 1-1.
Well done Girls
Second match (friendly) saw a switch around of players for both teams. Our team seemed to relax more and the play flowed much better, resulting in a confident 5-0 win to Scorchers. (Goals - Ellie 3, Ebony 1 & Jasmine 1 from a wonderful curling corner kick!!)
Player of the match was awarded to Alice for her consistent solid defending in her first match with Scotton Scorchers Lions.
