U13 Purple 24/25 - Aston Clinton

💜GOGS U12 Purple v Aston Clinton 💜

Today we travelled to Aylesbury to play Aston Clinton. With a 45 journey and a 10am kick off we were hoping the girls wouldn’t be too tired and they’d be ready to go. 

we had a few players missing today and we didn’t know what to expect having not played the team before. 

we arrived and the girls were all fired up. With the team having two birthdays this week all the players said they would bring it for the birthday girls and they didn’t disappoint! 💜

Our starting formation was strong playing a 3-3-2. We had Sarah on the right wing who had her first game today after returning from injury. We were thinking to ease her in slowly but Sarah had other ideas!!

On kick off we were on fire! We went straight in taking possession and saw some great passing and teamwork. We’ve been working on our passing and 1-2s with the girls at training and with some great 1-2 team work, Gracie made a lovely through ball to Sarah who smashed the ball into the net within the first 4mins. ⚽️💜

After this we continued to dominate play, but after a couple of silly mistakes where we had too much bunching, Aston Clinton came back and saw an opening and scored making it 1:1. 

We wouldn’t back down however and were running constantly. The game was extremely fast paced and we had to make some quick changes. The girls started to bunch up and lose their shape which then allowed Aston Clinton to take possession and get the ball through our defence line and we conceded a second goal. 

Now the girls were angry and we knew they were fired up to come back. In the 29th minute with a great pass out from goal to defence, Lexi took the ball out, driving it up to the centre line, she made a great pass to Katie who kept the ball moving and when we told her to release the ball she listened and found the back of the net! 💜⚽️🦩 2:2

The second half we didn’t seem to dominate as much as the first. Aston Clinton were coming in hard and fast and we needed to think quickly on our feet.   The first 15 mins we lost possession a fair bit, however at 45 mins our right back Amelia, made a fantastic  long cross to Nyah on the left wing who jumped straight on the ball. With her speed Aston Clinton struggled to keep up, but were gaining on her, just as she took her shot she was fouled, however she found the net and made it 3:2 to GOGS 💜⚽️💜

Aston Clinton were now chasing our players everywhere, but our girls had said they hadn’t travelled all that way to lose! We were the stronger team but unfortunately 1 minute before full time they took a shot. It was off target so Sophie came out of goal to chase down the ball. She had the ball in her hands and their striker kicked it from her and scored. The ref said he didn’t see what happened and therefore awarded the goal. Final score being 3:3. 

They awarded their player of the match to Nyah. 🏆

We awarded our player of the match to Ta’lia as being in defence it’s hard when a goal is conceded. Some players feel it’s their fault and they let their team down and that’s how Ta’lia felt today. However after a little pep talk and some affirmations she got back on the pitch with confidence and power. I don’t see Player of the match just about the ball or the goals, it’s about how a player picks them self up and doesn’t stop believing! 

It was a fantastic game to watch. It’s not easy to have a long week at school, get up at 7am on a Saturday, travel for 45 mins and then put in a performance like they did today. I’m so proud of every one of them. The opposition manager came and told us what a nice team we have and how professional they are on the pitch. 

Captain Sophie and Vice Captain Katie 

⚽️ Sarah assisted by Gracie 

⚽️ Katie assisted by Lexi 

⚽️ Nyah assisted by Amelia 

POTM Ta’lia 🏆