U9 v The Elms, Won 6 - 1

U9 v The Elms, Won 6 - 1

Player of the match: Annie M

The girls approached this first game very seriously and this approach was to pay dividends.

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

Position           1st Quarter   2nd Quarter    3rd Quarter   4th Quarter
Centre              Fran N         Fran N             Fran N          Fran Rh
Wing Attack    Hattie N       Hattie N          Hattie N        Hattie N
Goal Attack     Fran Rh       Fran Rh           Charlotte H   Charlotte H
Goal Shooter   Annie M      Annie M          Annie M       Annie M
Wing Defence  Lily W         Morgan G       Morgan G     Lily W
Goal Defence  Charlotte H  Charlotte H     Gabby H       Fran N
Goal Keeper    Frankie R     Frankie R        Frankie R      Gabby H

In defence Frankie R, Charlotte H, Gabby H and Fran N really got the idea of man marking and they were never far from their opposition. This really helped to minimise the Elm’s score and in fact the Elms only achieved one goal and that was in the second quarter. Lily W and Morgan G, both playing as Wing Defence, helped clear the ball up the court and I was pleased by how they ran into space rather than bunching the play, which can happen in this age group.

Fran N played ably as Centre, controlling the game. I was pleased to see Hattie N and both Fran Rh and Charlotte H get the idea of running into the centre third to receive the ball. There were some nice sprint dodges. Again this opened up our play and gave positive opportunities for getting the ball forwards.

In the attacking quarter Fran Rh and Charlotte H fed some lovely balls into Annie M, who was able to convert them into goals. Annie M had a tremendous game, scoring 5 of our goals and one more from Charlotte H made 6 in total.

For the next match, a little work on dodging would help. Often when players drop back from the play, not only does it create space on court for team mates, it also allows them to sprint forward and trick their opposition. It is better to come forward for the ball or else as the player runs backwards it makes the pass too long, too weak and too easy to intercept.

Thank you for all the support today.