Today was our second game against St. Johns. The team started with Ria in net, Aphra, Hanaan, Robyn and Laura at the back, Fred, Hanifa, Whitby, and Lucy in the middle and Jess and Joely upfront, the two subs were Bethany and Frankie.
When the game got under the way the expectations from the coaches were really high with everyone expecting a 10 goal lead going into to half time. We were wrong, the coaches of St Johns done some extra homework and decided to put 10 players behind the ball. This also worked well for us as it was the best passing Lisbon has done all year with all the girls passing brilliantly and making space for each other. With the excellent defending from St Johns and some top saves from the goalie the parents and coaches thought the first goal was never going to come!! At this point Dave was getting really frustrated shouting SHOOT every time a Lisbon player got within 30 yards!! With some excellent passing and a great assist from Lucy to the shouts of SHHHHOOOOT, Hanifa buried the 1st on 5 mins, to much relief from the Lisbon side. 0-1.
As the game progressed from the kick off, there was an outstanding performance from the St Johns defence and the keeper (10 players on the line) though the passing was brilliant from the Lisbon team especially from Fred who was at the centre of all the action from left to right. But despite many efforts from the Lisbon side to shoot (or walk the ball into the back of the net) Lisbon just couldn’t score. It was especially funny to hear Dave screaming shoot every time a player had the ball. After 23 minutes from the 1st goal and when everyone had no nails left, there was an outstanding goal from Lucy, probably the best goal from her this season (SO FAR) and Joely’s 1st assist of the season Lucy whipped down the left side like a lightning bolt zig zagging past 2 - 3 defenders and fired home a magnificent strike!! (We all thought she missed) to make it 0-2.
On 31 minutes Lisbon was rewarded with a corner after great pressure on the St Johns defence and then a quick clever move from Whitby to pass it short to Hanifa, who crossed it in to karate kid Joely, who performed something from a martial arts movie to secure the third goal. Joely’s second of the season! (She should go to Hollywood with her kicks though). 0-3.
The whistle blew for end of the 1st half with everyone shocked at only a 3 goal lead. It was down to the coaches to motivate the players for the second half. The changes for the second half were: pulling a very bored Ria out of net to her preferred role upfront with Jess, Joely going in net, Hanaan and Lucy came off for a rest and replacing them was Bethany who went left back and Frankie went in the middle while Fred went to the left.
When the whistle blew again there was tremendous pressure on St Johns and fantastic passing from the Lisbon girls – with 2 minutes played, Whitby intercepted the ball from the goal kick and ran full pace to slot in the 4th goal (37 mins) 0-4. More fantastic pressure came from the Lisbon girls on St Johns who started to crack and panic, excellent football skills from Fred helped Hanifa to secure her 2nd of the game on 39 mins, 0-5. On 41 minutes, after outstanding football again from the two midfielders but this time swapping around – excellent skills from Hanifa to assist Fred into firing her 1st of the game, 0-6. There were many unlucky efforts from Jess who just couldn’t seem to beat the St Johns defence much to her frustration (or her boots!!) and the St Johns goal keeper continued to make some great saves.
On 45 minutes, it was Brazilian football that we all witnessed from Ria and Fred, with Fred sprinting down the left flank to pass inside to Ria who back heeled it right into the footsteps of Fred in between 3 defenders and Fred then megged the defender and coolly placed the ball in the goal (great football skills) 0-7. Finally, on 47 minutes much to Jess’s relief and to the relief of her fans on the sidelines, Jess swiped the ball off a St Johns defender to run and welly the ball into the back of the net to the cheers of the Lisbon side (well done jess, but don’t wear them boots again!!) 0-8. On 55 mins, and after a great spell of defending from St Johns catching the Lisbon strikers offside several times, it was Hanifa’s great skill and awareness to pass a great ball to Fred to get another hat-trick under her belt this season by just literally walking the ball into the back of the net (cheeky) 0-9.
With 20 mins left on the clock, Lucy replaced Whitby to go on the right flank. Again there was some excellent passing from the Lisbon girls with every player on pitch making the right passes. It was Brazilian football which started again from Ria who placed a lovely ball to Hanifa who took the ball past the keeper and then blasted the ball into the net (great goal), 60 mins, 0-10. With much discussion on the sidelines as this game could be Lisbon’s 1st clean sheet of the season (!) there was a good break from the St Johns strikers who then hit a shot from outside the area but to none other than karate kid Joely who performed a flying kick (must have been auditioning for karate kid 4) for the ball to go underneath her, 1-10, unlucky Joely!!! With 5 minutes to go Jess came off for Whitby who set up the final goal for Hanifa to secure her 4th goal of the game to make the final score 1-11. Well done girls!!! Hopefully well get a clean sheet before the season ends!! Fingers crossed.
Today was a great game, the girls have shown us what they are capable of, with some great team work and fantastic passing. Well done to Lucy who seems to be playing better each game, and well done to Fred and Hanifa for outstanding performances. Congratulations on another win, keep up the good work.
By Claire and Simon.
Goals: 1st half – Hanifa, Lucy, Joely;
2nd half – Whitby, Hanifa, Fred x2, Jess, Fred, Hanifa x2
Player of the Match: Hanifa
1 comment:
WOW. What a fantastic match report!!!
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