U9 v Terra Nova, Won 5 - 0

Half time Score, 1 - 0 to S.A.

Goal Scorers - Francesca N x3 goals, Francesca R x 1 goal, Morgan G x1 goal

Players of the match - Francesca N and Francesca R

It would be fair to say that in the previous four games, the under 9s have lost their fire power. Having enjoyed the majority of possession in the game against The Elms and in the three festival matches last Saturday, the girls have failed to finish off the final shot at goal, after grafting tirelessly to bring the ball down the pitch. A lucky break away by each of the four opposition, has resulted in a goal being conceded each time by our girls and despite them being the stronger team, they have lost each of the games. It was, therefore, time for a change! Two year 3 girls, Rosie W and Ursula H, have had a fantastic term in training and showed great fire power not only in their festival games last week, but also against the year 4 girls in games sessions, being the only ones to score in Monday's games lesson, they both firmly booked their place in the under 9 team. The knock on effect in Wednesday's game, proved the correct decision was made - our year 4 forwards got their mojo back and remembered how to score a goal.

Wednesday's game saw a super performance by all of the team. Rosie W in the first quarter quickly adapted to play in the fast lane, with her and Francesca R doing some sterling work to bring the ball down the pitch. Centre Mid Gabby H was on form too, supporting the girls well and Hattie N was like a terrier, determined to win the ball with her well timed tackles. We had plenty of opportunity to score and wanted to score, going wide on a few occasions. The defence also worked well, keeping their sticks low and  clearing the ball to the wings, rather than straight down the middle channel. The second quarter saw Ursula H making her debute and she worked like a Trojan, to bring the ball down and feed it into the D. Francesca N, who generally prefers playing on grass and in this game hit the ball really well, picked up one such ball and hit it into the goal from the outer edge of the D to score our first goal. The pitch is quite soggy and clumpy at this time of the year, meaning the ball is more prone to flipping up above the ground. One such flip unfortunately hit Ursula in the lip and nose, resulting in her retiring bravely from the game, (we wish her a speedy recovery), and half time arriving slightly early.

The girls continued to work hard in the 3rd and 4th quarters, with Annie M, Charlotte H, Frankie R and Lily W all remaining alert in defence and clearing the ball impressively. Francesca R's determination paid off, with her scoring our 2nd goal; before two more from Francesca N, to secure her hat-trick! In the last quarter Morgan G had a piece of the action, with her scoring our final goal of the game.

Well played everybody, we need to keep this up for next week, as we again face Grace Dieu, one of the teams we lost to last weekend. We do have the fire power and now need to ensure we always use it! Thanks to all of the supporters from both schools, for their superb encouragement from the sidelines and for making the atmosphere at this game so super for the girls and to Mrs Nieper for assisting with first aid.

DLB