We have played Radcliffe Girls a number of times over the last three seasons, notably beating them in the final of the Seaside Tournament two seasons ago. This season they have been playing 9 – a – side and have comfortably won the Bury & Bolton League.
As we are moving up to 9 – a – side next season the opportunity to play Radcliffe Girls at 9 – a – side would give our girls some good practice. The down side was we had all nine girls on the pitch with no subs.
The first half was entirely our half. Emily and Megan F dominated the midfield creating numerous shooting opportunities. Bronya skimmed the cross bar with a long distance rocket. Sophie had another good effort saved. Eventually our pressure told. A long through ball by Megan F over the Radcliffe defence was superbly controlled by Hannah. She turned and elegantly lobbed a shot over the goalie to make it 1 – 0.
Anna and Beth both combined well with Bronya to make our Woodbank defence impenetrable. Anna was up against Katie D from Radcliffe who is an Academy player but whether she was an Academy player, World Cup Brazilian Player or a Radcliffe Girls Player, Anna was not going to let her near our net.
At half time we shared Easter eggs feeling good about ourselves. The sun was shining and we were beating Radcliffe Girls.
I think the Radcliffe Girls half time team talk was somewhat more serious!
The second half continued very much like the first half. Excellent play by Sophie almost led to another goal. Megan F made many searching runs into the opposing area. Hannah’s skilful attacking play caused many problems and it seemed only a matter of time before we increased our lead. Megan W thrived in her midfield position tackling hard and making run after run into the opposing half.
As time ticked on, our girls started to tire (with having no subs and a much bigger pitch) and Radcliffe started to gain confidence. Fi made an incredible save to stop one thunderbolt and another fingertip save to stop another.
Then from a goalmouth scrabble, Radcliffe incredibly scored. Against the run of play and to every ones surprise.
The last ten minutes saw us pile pressure onto Radcliffe Girls with some excellent passing movements. Emily made run after run creating scoring opportunities but the final score ended 1 – 1.
To be honest I would have been pleased with this before the game but after seeing our girls play 9 – a – side on a much bigger pitch, I felt almost disappointed. It really suited our girls style of play. Quick passing movements and lots of skill.
Radcliffe chose Emily as there player of the match for an all round superb performance. I chose all my girls as today was a real team performance.
After exchanging Easter Eggs we left to enjoy a well earned two weeks rest and to look forward to next seasons 9 – a – side. I was very proud of you all.
Happy Easter.
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