The U14's followed up their win last week against Knaresborough Celtic with a hard fought victory against a very good Harrogate Railway side.
Another early start saw the U14's playing at Harrogate High School, but, unlike last week, the earlier start did not seem to suit the Scorchers who were out played for much of the first half by a team with a number of very good individuals. The defence had to be strong as Harrogate pushed forward time and again but they were up to the job as the solid back three of Georgina, Lowenna and Molly stood firm and dealt with most things that were thrown at them, but often they found that reinforcements in the form of Honor, Grace and Becky were needed in order to keep the Scorchers goal from being breached.
Harrogate intelligently used the conditions to their advantage, realising that the heavy morning dew made the ball slippy and difficult to handle and they increasingly took shots from distance, testing Jayde in goal. A couple proved to be difficult to hold and Harrogate looked more and more likely to score first. The scores remained level even when Jayde was beaten as Becky was on hand to clear the ball off the line and in the ensuing goal mouth scramble the Scorchers were able to clear their lines and keep the scores level at 0-0.
At the other end of the field chances were few and far between but there was plenty of possession in midfield and between Chloe and Emily playing up front but the Harrogate defence seemed to be onto the Scorchers quickly, putting them under pressure and closing down the space more quickly.
The Scorchers strikers do not need too much of an invitation to score however and a low goal kick from the Harrogate 'keeper was picked up by Emily who immediately played in Chloe. She showed nimble footwork to get the ball onto her right foot and advanced on the keeper, she then held her nerve to place the ball past the 'keeper into the bottom corner and the Scorchers found themselves 1-0 up at half time.
With neither side having any subs available the half time break was welcome but the team talk was one that identified several areas where we needed to improve if we were to keep the lead. Some tactical changes were also discussed and the girls set out to make a more positive impression, and what a transformation! It was as if a different team had turned up, right from the kick off the girls took the game to Harrogate and dominated the early possession with good passing, more pace to the attacks and much quicker closing down when Harrogate were in possession. The wingers played much further up the pitch, creating problems for Harrogate and stretching the defence, which in turn created more space for Chloe, Emily and Jayde (who had been replaced by Honor in goal) and some of the passing, flicks and through balls were a delight to watch.
As a result of the new Scotton team turning up it was not long before the score was 2-0. Good work at the back broke down the Harrogate attack and defence was turned into attack as the ball was pumped up field. Emily won the ball and put a controlled through ball through to Grace who had bust a gut to get forward. Grace took aim and put the ball through the legs of the unfortunate keeper into the net to make it 2-0.
The third followed soon after as Emily again won the ball in midfield and put the ball out to Jayde on the left, Jayde then fed Becky who had made the attacking run this time and she also managed to place the ball past the advancing 'keeper to make it 3-0. By this stage the Scorchers were running the game, often with 4 or 5 players in attack while the defence were dealing with everything and Honor, in goal, just had to be on her guard if any long shot was attempted.
In the last few minutes Harrogate started to find some form again and tested Honor with a couple of good efforts but she was solid and looked as if she would not be beaten, and her mighty goal kicks almost always turned defence into attack in an instant. She was however beaten as she advanced to close down a Harrogate through ball, the Harrogate striker poking the ball past her but Molly, showing what a maturing defender she is, had read the situation perfectly and arrived just in time to clear the ball almost off the line and retain the 3-0 scoreline.
The final whistle was welcome for both sides as the heat and lack of substitutes took its toll but a 3-0 win was a good result and the second half performance was as good as we have seen this year. Player of the match was difficult choice as we saw good individual performances from several players, including Jayde in the first half, Molly (as always) but the award went to Grace for her work rate and performance in the second half and her goal which was the second that gave us the cushion that we needed to secure victory.
Great team performance by the whole team - well done to all.
