Ladies 3rds Vs Matlock IV Away 15/03/09

With a full squad, subs and a rare bucket load of sunshine we took to the pitch knowing that the Matlock IV’s had been relegated from the league above previously but clung on to the fact that in our home game against them final whistle blew to a nil nil draw. Don’t get me wrong we weren’t expecting an easy game but like every game we play we hope to have fun and maybe score a few goals along the way!
From the off Matlock were literally on the ball, on the attack and giving our defence a hard time. It wasn’t long before they were given a short, and then another, and another, and yes another! Our girls in the defensive line did tremendously well to keep blocking their onslaught we were particularly lucky to have Ellie in the goalie spot. Her tenacious goalie attitude and reflexes were our saving grace, we just could not break through to our attacking half and the majority of the first half was a defensive game.

As Matlock spent so much time in our D it wasn’t long before they scored their first goal, Ellie was floored and the ball slipped in behind her, unlucky but inevitable. Spirits unbroken we tried to break through their defence and on a couple of occasions we caught them on the hop, we had them a little worried but their experience and skill level showed as our attempts were quashed.

Ellie continued to make some awesome saves and even had the opposition gasping, still they managed to sneak in two more goals before the half time whistle. Half time team talks concluded that Ellie was a ‘Transformer’ (Robots in Disguise, for those of us young enough to remember and not old enough to forget!)

The half time team talk also unveiled Dan’s shock revelation that the pitch was on a slope and Matlock had had the downhill advantage! So there we have it, the ball naturally rolled into our defensive half and when we were on the attack we were literally going uphill! Logically then we should have gravity on our side for the second half!!

The second half started and it appears the laws of gravity do not apply to the Wirksworth pitch, the ball had a tendency to roll uphill towards our goal. Thankfully Ellie continued to be like some sort of ball repellent and we only conceded two goals in the second half! The play was pretty much the same as in the first half except we were more fatigued and previous injuries began to take their toll three of us with gammy knees battled on to the finish line and it couldn’t of come too soon! We ended five nil down but had plenty of thirds spirit which remains unbeaten!

Everyone worked so hard and to the best of their ability, this was reflected in the man of the match voting, a three way split between Ellie, Louise and Laura whose tireless efforts did not go unnoticed!
This weeks Derby Donkey Award goes to Nikki Sheep for having the energy, after the match, to do three cartwheels in a row resulting in a groin strain! Well done Nikki!

Thank you Dan for your on the day tactics and coaching, thanks to Neil for umpiring, of course thanks go to Annie for Captaining such a lively squad and finally to our sideline supporters who really do make a difference to us! Cheers! xx