U11 v Terra Nova Won 2-0

Goal Scorers:

Georgina T – 2 goals

U11 Squad: Clare T, Georgina T, Emily H, Silvia  (Forwards); Georgia R, Beth M (Mids); Lulu J, Poppy S , Amelia M, Grace F (Backs); Imo C (Goalie).

Players of the Match Georgia R for bringing the ball up the pitch and distributing it so superbly to the forwards and Georgina T for great work in the D finishing off shots.  

It was a very cold and crisp day for our match against Terra Nova. They had a squad of only 7, so it was decided that we would lend two of our players to them for each quarter, so none of our squad of 11 were hanging around getting cold. Thanks to the eight girls who played for Terra Nova without any fuss, some of you made a very real difference to this team and it was greatly appreciated by their teacher and girls.

We had also lent our normal pitch to the under 10s, who from the offset were playing a 9 aside game, (ours originally being 7 aside), and we quickly learnt how lucky we are to have such a super playing surface to normally train and play on. The Cope pitch in comparison was very sticky and cloggy, with the ball becoming stuck in the grass and not flowing as well as it does on our pitch. That said we did make quite hard work of the game today, with the constant swapping of team members at every quarter not enabling our team to gel particularly well. Our two players playing for the opposition, were of course fully aware of our tactics and game play, so every time a square or through ball was made, one of them was on hand to retrieve it. At times some of our players lacked a little focus and concentration too and despite Georgia R’s super work as a mid, often there was nobody there to finish it off, with our wings often playing too defensively. We also tried to do too many hits, with the power going straight into the ground, when a simple slap or push would have sufficed. These are all things we will continue to work on before the match next week against Ranby.

Despite the above observations by the coach, there is no getting away from the fact that a win is a win and Georgina T did manage to finish off two of Georgia’s through balls quite skillfully and had a few other very close misses. The conditions were perhaps not conducive to the girls playing their best every hockey either, but they all continued to battle on to the end and it was often our two ringers playing for Terra Nova, that aided the other team and prevented  us from scoring more goals. It was also good to see Grace F playing for the Under 11a team for the first time this season and she kept her head and tackled impressively.

Thanks very much to all of our supporters who came to watch and braved the very cold conditions! It was great to see you all there and the girls really appreciated your resilience!

DLB