U12 at Regional IAPS Tournament

Results
v Foremarke Hall, won 1 - 0
v Spratton Hall, lost 0 - 1
v Bromsgrove, lost 0 – 3
v Beachborough, drew 1 – 1
v The Elms, won 3 - 0
3rd place overall in U12 competition

It was a great atmosphere at Repton on a sunny and frosty morning. We arrived in good time and were not playing until the 4th match, so had enough time to support our U13's. They played very well and we hoped some inspiration may have rubbed off onto us. We also had time to eye up the opposition and watched a number of matches of teams in our draw. Our first match against Foremarke Hall, went our way and we dominated the game. Lily S, Nancy S and Emma H playing well up front. Nancy managing to score the only goal of the match, with a great shot from the edge of the "D". We then had a break, two matches off, this gave us time to grab a bite to eat and discuss tactics for the next match against Spratton Hall. Our tactics were to have a change round of positions, always risky but worth a try, as we decided goals were what we needed this match. Hard-hitting Olivia C and Chloe R-S played up front to try and score but they naturally moved back to their old positions of defence, meaning we did not have enough attackers up front. We therefore did not score and Spratton were lucky with their one goal that eventually took them through to the finals. It was a frustrating match, that we really should have won. We were straight on again for our third match, giving us no time to recover and pick ourselves up, to add to the pressure we were against Bromsgrove, who were tipped to be the better team (eventual tournament winners.) We reverted back to our old positions but Bromsgrove proved too strong and dominated. We made some silly errors, the main one being, sending the ball out from defence to the left, allowing Bromsgrove to intercept the ball on their open stick side and go in a score, they did this not once but twice. They managed a third goal, a good shot and difficult to save. 3-0 down and no chance of recovery in the short time we had left. After two defeats Mrs B and I had a very despondent U12 team on our hands... Our next opponents were Beachborough, a team similar to us, that had exactly the same points, at that stage in the tournament. However, it was not long into the match before we scored, Emma H with a great hit on the edge of the "D", this lifted our spirits no end and thankfully, we looked like the old awesome U12's again! We had control of this game but never managed to find the back of the net, Beachborough defending extremely well. To our disbelief, they managed to slip one passed us in the last few minutes, a 1-1 draw. We were off for the next match and knew we had to do all we could to pull ourselves up again and remember what it was like to win!! Yet another tactical change of positions as we had nothing to lose -we altered our formation, giving us more strength in midfield, and I am delighted to report, it worked for us! We played The Elms, Colwell next and looked great. We had a number of supporters watching us because the other matches had finished and we rose to the occasion. Nancy S scored two fabulous goals and Lily S made it a third, at last a convincing win, we were delighted the girls had picked themselves back up. We finished 3rd overall in the competition, not enough to take us through to the National Finals, it just wasn't our day. Well done everyone, a particular mention to Sky U who debuted brilliantly as second goalkeeper. Many thanks to Mrs B, Mr Brock and the number of parents who braved the cold, for their support throughout the day.

NLW