POM – Georgia R – for superbly timed interceptions, strong defending and great securing of the ball under the post.
U11 Squad: Clare T (GA), Emily H (GS), Georgia R (GD), Imo C (GK), Beth M (WD); Georgina T (C), Poppy S (WA), Amelia W (WD) & Yasmin D (WD).
Originally due to play the under 12B team, we found ourselves promoted to playing the under 12As after a very strong performance against our own thirds in games on Monday, where it became apparent we were the stronger squad. We wanted a good test prior to next week’s IAPS Tournament and an opportunity to see how we reacted when finding ourselves in a losing position, in order to develop our feistiness, grit and determination. This game certainly lived up to the billing and provided an opportunity for all of these.
Denstone did not get off to the best of starts, with our girls scoring first, but five minutes into the first quarter, they had resumed normal service; leading us by two goals at the end of the first quarter. We were still very much in the game, with just shooting accuracy separating the two teams.
Our second quarter was not the best, with us only adding a further two goals to our total, but allowing Denstone to score eight more. Our passing was intercepted by the taller Denstone team, we did not always mark as tightly as we could, particularly in the defending half and in the mid third players hid behind their opponents and did not get free for the passes. The Denstone shooters were on fabulous form in this quarter, but we missed too many shots.
Half time gave us a chance to regroup, discuss what needed to be done and work on building up our confidence. We were much better in this quarter, scoring a further three goals, to Denstone’s five. We did miss many more though and could have really got back into the game had we converted more of our shots. We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by our opposition and it was clear a couple of our team were frustrated at times. That said the passing worked well in this quarter, with Georgina T, Clare T and Poppy S working their socks off to bring the ball into the D. Georgia R made plenty of interceptions and Imo C was faster marking the shots, which affected their shooter’s accuracy.
The girls continued to build on this momentum in the final quarter, with the last five minutes in particular seeing them return to their usual strong mode of play. The passing was slick, defending tight and shooting on great form, with Emily H really taking command in the D. Clare T also shot some great goals and made some super interceptions, whilst Amelia W as WD played her socks off, and as a fresh pair of legs really helped ensure the ball’s path out of our defending half was safe and secure. In this quarter we scored the same number of goals as Denstone, six each, but definitely had the upper hand in the last few minutes.
This provided a great opportunity to test the girls and see how they coped under pressure. Earlier in the game, they did not respond very well; but by the third and certainly fourth quarters they came out fighting, upped their game and showed they are not about to take defeat lying down. Well done girls, games like this will really help to enhance your play and ensure you progress as a team far more, than an easy win against a weaker team. One week to go to the Big 1, keep up the extra practice and remember your sports psychology and self-belief exercises each evening!
DLB
Posted on
Thu, February 24, 2011
by MAC