The Lions had a trip to Sherburn on Saturday for their first encounter of the season with Scarborough Ladies; this has proved a challenge over the last couple of seasons with us failing to get a point!
The weather conditions were perfect for sunbathing as opposed to playing 40 minutes of football but both sides put in a great performance and were a credit to their clubs. Scarborough started brightly and moved the ball with purpose exposing Scotton on both flanks within the first 5 minutes. Timely interceptions from Alice and Jess at the back saved us from going a goal down. Scotton, however got an outlet via Ellie running down the left flank, her pace exposed the Scarborough defence but good positioning meant that we had to settle for a corner. Jasmine delivered yet another exquisite set piece which somehow evaded all Scotton players, ricocheted off a Scarborough player and into the hands of the keeper. Scotton then had the momentum and were encamped in the opposing teams half. A quick throw from Jess on the left found Ellie, she crossed the ball to Ebony whose shot was half-saved by the keeper, fortunately Molly was there to apply a neat right foot finish.
Scarborough Ladies responded immediately with a tricky run from the captain, she pushed the ball out wide to the winger who's first time shot was brilliantly saved by Lizzie. The ball was moved quickly to Ebony, she sliced the Scarborough defence open with a neat pace to Ellie. Ellie controlled the ball with one touch and shot with the next finding the left hand corner of the net... Half time, Scarborough 0- Scotton 2!
The second half was as exciting as the first even though the players were struggling in the 70+ degree heat. The best move of the game came when the ball fell to Jasmine. She attempted to play the ball to the right hand side where Cora was lurking but was blocked, so she switched feet and played the ball to the left
finding Ellie; she played a fantastic ball to Ebony who instinctively fired a left footed shot past the advancing keeper. A quick substitution meant that Amber returned to the pitch after a 2 month lay-off, her presence was immediately felt with excellent clearances and strong tackling when Scarborough got into our half, one of them leading to a breakaway goal from Ebony... Final Score Scarborough 0 - Scotton Scorchers 4!
Player of the match was awarded to Ellie.
Players, Parents and Coaches were all very happy with the result and a trip to the beach followed!!!
