U11 v the Elms, Won 10 - 1

Player of the match: Laura D

The girls excitably started their second match of the season with some excellent team play and all the Year 6 girls played in various combinations. This allowed a few girls to try out new positions. Laura D played Goal Defence for the first time, Mimi C played Wing Attack as well as her usual Wing Defence and Livi BD had two quarters as Goal Shooter.

We changed every quarter to maximise play and try out new combinations:

Position             1st Quarter   2nd Quarter    3rd Quarter   4th Quarter
Centre                Immy N       Immy N          Lily H           Lily H
Wing Attack      Imogen A     Imogen A       Mimi C         Immy N
Goal Attack       Evie D          Evie D            Emily H       Evie D
Goal Shooter     Livi BD        Emily H          Livi BD       Emily H
Wing Defence   Mimi C         Mimi C           Laura D       Laura D
Goal defence     Laura D        Laura D          Sophie J       Sophie J
Goal Keeper      Lexi BD       Lexi BD          Lexi BD       Livi BD

The defence players worked none stop. They worked very hard to win the ball back if the Elms had possession. Lexi BD controlled the defence ‘D’ well and worked easily with both Laura D and Sophie J to block out the opposition. There were many tips and interceptions. As a team they reduced the Elms to one goal in total.

In centre court Immy N and then Lily H played with determination and helped shape the game, playing confident, hard passes around the court. Imogen A and Mimi C playing as the Wings were able to pick the ball up from the defence and play the ball all the way through to our shooters, which is just what we needed.

The three shooters worked steadily, putting balls up to the post and of the 10 goals, Livi BD scored 1 from 2 quarters of play and Evie D scored 4 and Emily H scored 5 from playing 3 quarters each.

Overall it was an excellent performance. Next week we play away against Westbourne. It is important to focus on the pass into our attacking D. It needs to be high and drop into the player. The lower, driving pass should be reserved for centre court, as it is easily intercepted when the pace of play is slower. I would also like all players to think about driving forward for the ball. The trick is to drop back out of play and then when you’re opposing player is least expecting it, sprint forward to receive the pass. Let’s see if we can put these into action.

Thanks for all the support today, very cheering!