Ladies 3rds V Findern Away 13/12/08

It was on, then it was off, then it was on again! This was a game that never nearly happened! After much to-ing and fro-ing between our Annie and Finderns two captains the game was on! Nice one Annie for not only organising our team but the opposition as well! Although in hindsight we might have been better off still tucked up in bed as the weather was awful, it was proper raining, not just drizzly splashy rain, big fat rain that soaked us all to the bone! Not a team to be put off by adverse weather conditions we perservered in our tee-shirts whilst Findern played in full on fleecey tops, wooses!

Having been insulted by the Findern Captain earlier in the week who had politely reminded us they had never lost a game against us, we were determined to make them eat their words! We had youth on our side as the majority of their players were of a more mature persuasion! So at the starting whistle Findern were on the attack, they pushed forward quickly to give us a wae up call. They were our in D within the first five minutes and were given a short after an Asterdale foot connected with the ball. Deep breaths were taken and the short was taken. Terri, running forward blocked the strike and cleared the ball well, much to the relief of her team mates!

Findern were using the space, they had a number of players with a strong strike but us young 'uns were more often than not able to intercept the ball and disrupt their playing style. We created some chances up the right wing with Jess H driving up field with her fast pace. Jen as centre forward was well positioned and between us we managed to pass our way to a goal scoring opportunity. Unfortunatley more often than not it was deftly cleared by the Findern defence. Then it was our turn for an attacking short, I pushed it out to Jen who took a strike at the goal. Again a tight Findern defence cleared it quickly.

Five minutes before the end of the first half and Asterdale were on the attack, with players pushing forward shear grit and determination keeping us going through the pouring rain, Findern caught us on the hop. Making a breakaway run right down the centre, our defenders couldn't keep pace and the ball was slipped passed Gill to give them their first goal of the game.

Yummy half time oranges later, the rain relentless, our hopes of a goal nowhere near quashed the game resumed. This half was not dull by any stretch of the imagination, possesion was 50/50 and so were the chances. We had some nifty short passes around their players which gave us some great opportunities, one from Jo M at the top of the D passing to Jen to the right and had Jens Go-Go Gadget Arms not let her down we could of potentially drawn level. It was a great piece of play and goal or not it just goes to show how far we've come from last season!!

In the battle for the ball Annie was in an unfortunate collision with a Findern forward, like a true trooper she got back on her feet and back in the game. Findern were given another short corner and again Terri was quick off the mark to pressure their striker, good pressure it was too as they fluffed up the hit and we cleared it away. We began a counter attack and with time ticking away we kept the ball in our attacking half. Tension mounted as we were given a short corner. Out to Jen and on target for a goal if it weren't for a strong defensive clear. We continued to keep the pressure on, Findern were struggling to clear the ball past the 22, we had them on the run but, then the final whistle blew! We were so close to drawing level we were unlucky, this is the lowest and best scoreline we've had against this team and considering the second half was goal-less for both teams we should all be proud of our perfomances today!

Joint Men of the Match: Charlotte R for excellent support in the midfield, Angie (me!) I think it was for getting a few tackles in and making a general nuisance of myself!

Derby Donkey Award: Jacquie for playing in her hiking boots! Although special mention should be made to the fact that she managed to play a handful of positions throughout the game and coped with the stress and confusion well!

Thanks to coach Dan for showing his shear commitment to us by braving the weather on the sideline and to Neil for his unbias umpiring and cutting it fine time-wise for his own match to play in at the home ground.

Also special thanks to the sideline supporters who intermittently disappeared for a warm in the big mans van, yes I clocked ya! Clearly Andy my offer of an umbrella was not good enough!

Oh Angie, these reports are awesome.

Yes the result was unfortunate but given the 'team goals' Dan has given us for the 2nd half of this season:
Taking it game by game & improving our result against each team we faced in the 1st half.
... well we're doing that & creating way more chances these days than we ever have done.

I arrived home drenched, got a shower & found sand in my hair - took me a while to figure out why as brain was in slow mode. Then realised I did my own rolly polly.

Andy - Will to win is not inversely proportional to my shouting. Duh!
10mins! - that must have been when you were in the van with heaters & music on full, that or get your ears waxed.
But thanks both Andy & Helena for the support.

Man of the match. Yes everyone played brilliantly but Charlotte & Angie, not only were you both ace at getting in the right places & making the hockey very hard for the opposition, you both worked very well together in positions you haven't worked together in before. - Naturals!

Also thanks to Gill for playing for us in Goal. Shall work on my fitness over the next month (between the curries & beers) & not lose that attacker next time.

Thank you Dan, well done girls. Have a fantastic Christmas & New Year & see you all in January (when at least Louise, Heather & Nikki will be a year older).

xxx

Well done girls a pity we lost. Angie your reports as fab as ever.

Sorry my back wasn't on song and I struggled throughout the match. That's the first time I've played RB for a whole match and I wasn't all that sure of myself. Being at the back you get to see a lot of how the game plays out. One to take away from this game reading it as we could from the back is team shape.
The Findern players were able to attack our defence by using a diagonal ball through the midfield to the right and then run through the middle. They tried this on more than one occasion and sadly were successful once. We must be aware of positioning and although you might be marking somebody or a space, you can be just as valuable to the team as the people touching the ball. There is a great tendency for the midfield to "drift" towards the ball, I used to do it all the time and it's hard to master as a midfielder - you want to be part of the action all the time - it's a mentality thing.
Same goes for the defence, Annie and I were guilty on occasions of being flat - allowing the break and for covering our own player instead of swaping over and then covering for each other. Also as we play a formation with no Centre Back or sweeper, than whomever is playing Centre Half needs to be aware that on the break we need you as an extra defender, at the very least to run behind us and mop up. After discussion with Dan, Annie and I were far more effective, and tried to provide "the pivot". Dan explained that if the LB side is being attacked they get sucked a little higher then the RB drops substantially back and vise versa. We thought we were kinda doing that but we weren't quite spot on, however in the 2nd half we did much better - proving every day's a school day and there are plenty of new tricks we can be taught !

Keep all of this going girls, keep on learning and putting things into practice - we are already looking like an organised team that can play hockey, keep mastering those skills and we'll be a team to be reckoned with - whilst we are having a lot of FUN !!

J
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