Today was our first league cup game of the season, and this year Whitby was selected to be the captain for this competition. Today was the first game for Jody who has just signed on for Lisbon, and what a coincidence she would be playing against her old team St Johns.
Lisbon were confident of a win today and left Hanifa and Jess as substitutes for the first half. Lisbon passed the ball extremely well and finished the first half 7-1 up, a lot of credit mush go to the St Johns striker who took a clearance from Ria straight in the chest to score St Johns only goal in the first half. (that must have really hurt).
The second half continued much like the first, with Lisbon totally dominating the game. Lisbon scored a further 11 goals in the second half and conceded only 1 more.
The game finished St Johns 2 Lisbon St Anthony’s 18, with Fred/Hanifa/Jess and Lucy all scoring hatricks against a very gallant St Johns
Final score St Johns 2 Lisbon St Anthony’s 18
Captain S Whitby
Girl of match S Whitby
(Laura injured)
P.S. this was not a great game to watch, but had some great goals to admire.
Well done again Dave & Claire & Pat
The sledging started early for this one, St John’s players putting the word around Chorlton High that this year things would be different and the Lisbon Girls were in for a thrashing. The last time anybody was that wrong was when the lookout on the Titanic said “Iceberg? I don’t see any iceberg”. Unfortunately the result for the good ship St John’s was much the same: disaster.
Lisbon started the game with an unfamiliar formation and Hanifa and Jess on the bench. Ria in goal, only 3 at the back – Beth, Hanaan and Aphra - Joely and Finney just in front of them, Whitby and Frankie out wide, Lucy and Jody Murphy up front with Fred tucked in just behind them. That this was an attacking formation became clear inside 3 minutes when Lucy got on the end of a ball into the box from Finney and finished with her usual ruthlessness.
Before St Johns had a chance to recover Lisbon were on the score sheet again, a short kick out from the St John’s goal went straight to Fred who charged the ball down before slotting home.
To their credit St John’s kept their heads up and for around 10 minutes managed to keep Lisbon back in their own half. The score sheet remained the same until the 17th minute, St John’s being unable to capitalise on the pressure they were exerting, the Lisbon defence holding firm. Jody Murphy was playing against her old team mates for the first time and it was perhaps inevitable that she would make her mark; when the St John’s defence failed to clear Jody scored the first of two in this fixture.
At 4 – 0 up Lisbon looked to be cruising but fortune was to favour St John’s lone striker Caitlin. A long ball split the Lisbon defence and Ria charged out of her goal, alert as ever to the danger. Ninety nine times out of one hundred her clearance would have crossed the half-way line and set up another Lisbon attack but on this occasion the ball thundered into Caitlin’s midriff and her momentum took the ball past Ria leaving the striker to finish in an empty net. The St John’s player had to leave the field in pain and her courage in finishing despite being badly winded has to be applauded.
The goal was a timely reminder to Lisbon that the game was far from over and the girls soon acted to once again stamp their authority on the match. Another example of indecision in the St John’s half saw the ball falling to Whitby, playing as captain for the first time, who finished with a typically elegant shot.
Scorer turned provider for the next goal, Whitby crossing to Fred who once again made no mistake with her finish. St John’s by now seemed to be tiring and there was just time for Lucy to take advantage of another short clearance by the St John’s keeper and score her second of the match. Half-time and 7 – 1 to Lisbon.
The second half started with Hanifa and Jess in their usual positions and Lucy and Ria swapping places. Jody and Frankie made way but both played a part again later in the half, Jody taking her turn in goal to give Lucy a chance of a hat trick.
It was only 4 minutes before Lisbon again increased their lead and from then on they were to score a goal every 4 minutes on average for the rest of the half. Jess and Hanifa both managed hat tricks despite spending the first half benched, Fred took her total to 4, Finney got on the score sheet twice to cap what this writer would say was the performance of the match and Lucy completed her hat trick with seconds to go before the final whistle.
The Lisbon goal tsunami was interrupted by only one St John’s goal when a defensive mix up left Lucy in nets exposed and unable to stop a decent finish from close range. Their two goals could have been added to but for some last-ditch defending by Aphra who on one occasion took on 2 of the opposition’s strikers and cleared from right in front of Lisbon’s goal.
Joely played her part in dominating midfield throughout the first half and Beth and Hanaan contributed to a solid defence. Frankie continued the run of effective performances on the wing that have made the season so far such an improvement on last year. Perhaps the one real surprise of the match was that Ria failed to get on the score sheet. It wasn’t for want of trying and she played some lovely football but her usual laser sighting was askew. In terms of team play however Ria was a notable success; goals 13 – 16 were all scored following her assists.
The final score of 18 – 2 by no means flattered Lisbon. Whitby was chosen player of the match by the opposition capping a memorable first time out as captain and she was one of many who could have received that accolade. St John’s showed admirable spirit, their heads never really going down despite the torrent of goals but in the end Lisbon were simply far too strong in every department. A good win and just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Lisbon girls are capable of.
Simeon
No comments:
Post a Comment