U9 Turquoise 24/25 - Broxbourne United Pumas
GOG U8T 💜🦩💜 The fourth game of 2024 and we were away to Broxbourne United. This was our first game against our local rivals. We spoke of the importance of the derby and that this opponent was to be treated with respect as they always produce excellent teams. The girls were determined to show what they were made of and once we got warmed up, were really up for the game.
The first quarter and what a great start to this game we had. Alara, Eden Lala and Willow started the game for us very brightly. Willow in particular was on fire showing great guile and tenacity both on the ball and off the ball. A fantastic run from Alara out from the back placing a well weighted pass into the path of Willow, who still had some distance and a defender to beat, but took to both tasks brilliantly slotting home our first goal of the game. Willow almost made it a second from the restart, putting pressure on the opponent but putting her shot just wide. Lala then followed up with a chance of her own, but the shot was direct to the keeper. Broxbourne soon grew into the game and a well taken effort from them made it all square. This didn't deter the girls who continued the game with great potence. Both teams battled for the ball in midfield. A fantastic run was made by Lala down the left wing crossing the ball for Willow who put away our second goal clinically. Willow almost returned the favour winning the ball back, taking on a player, then getting her head up to feed an excellent pass to Lala but she narrowly missed the target. Eden then won the ball back played a great pass into Lala down the left and Lala didn't miss this with a fantastic drilled shot into the bottom right corner giving us our third of the game. Alara remained solid in defence seeing off a number of Broxbourne attacks. Lala then repaid the assist to Eden, making a great interception and run down the right, passing to Eden who made no hesitation in putting the ball in the back the net for our fourth. Just before the break, Broxbourne who were always a threat got a well deserved second, bringing an end to well contested and high energy quarter.
The second quarter and it was Alara, Ariana, Evie and Olives time to shine and they didn't disappoint. Alara who has really improved with her ball carrying went on an excellent run from out the back, but some top defending from Broxbourne cancelled out the attack. Ariana, who was up against some of her classmates today, then went on a run of her own, but her effort on goal was off target. Evie and Olive worked extremely hard in midfield covering both attacking and defensive duties. Olive did brilliantly to win back the ball and play a pass to Ariana, but again her shot was short of the target. Olive then repeated same again making an excellent run and pass to Ariana, but the outcome was the same with her shot going away from goal. An excellent tackle and run of Olive's own almost saw her open up the scoring for this quarter, but the keeper made the save from her shot. Broxbourne continued to threaten us on the break but the girls worked well as a team to see this off. Evie then made a smart throw from a throw-in to space finding Ariana, but the shot was wide of the mark. Ariana then did well to keep a loose cleared ball in play from the left touchline, finally finding the back of the net from an acute angle, giving us our fifth goal of the game. After winning the ball back, Alara went on a darting run down the right, putting a cross into Evie, who took a brilliant shot at goal, only to be denied by some really good keeping from Broxbourne. Ariana did well to win the ball on the half way line, playing in Evie who saw another fantastic effort parried from the keeper back into her path and her second shot very unluckily hitting the post.
The third quarter started with Eden, Evie, Lala and Willow. The girls continued to be put to the test and took whatever came their way. Both teams fought brilliantly with some good football being played. Evie continued her good form into this quarter this time turning provider with a lovely run down the right wing and playing in Lala, who's effort just scraped the post and went out of play. We then got caught in possession with a good break away goal scored by Broxbourne giving them their third. The game was very much in the balance at this point and both teams felt the next goal could really swing the game in their favour. Lala and Willow continued to combine dangerously with some excellent passing and moving between each other. The game was halted when Willow accidentally knocked over one of the Broxbourne girls against the run of play. But it was really nice to see good sportsmanship shown by her to check and see if the Broxbourne girl was alright. A sub was made and play resumed. The girls continued to push for another goal. Unfortunately, Willow took a nasty accidental blow to the face resulting in play being stopped. Again it was lovely to see the Broxbourne players also consoling Willow showing great sportsmanship. A sub was made as a precaution with Ariana coming on in replacement. Play resumed and it was simply end to end stuff from both teams. Lala went on an excellent run down the left, with a great effort saved from the Broxbourne keeper, but fortunately for us parried into the feet of Ariana who was able to tap in our sixth goal from close range.
The fourth quarter and its fair to say both teams put on a great show for the parents and coaches right up until now. Alara, Lala, Olive and Willow (who was fine to continue the game) took to the field and put on a grand finale. Lala started things off driving forward and finding Olive in good space but her effort was slightly off target. Lala then followed up with two solo efforts of her own, however both were straight at the keeper. Willow picked up where she left off, making a fantastic recovery of the ball, drove forward, got her head up picking out Lala who scored our seventh goal of the match. Shortly after the restart Willow picked up the ball from within the opposition half and almost got another goal herself, with her effort just over. Lala then recovered the ball from halfway, driving forward with both Willow and Olive as options, she laid the ball off to Olive with the shot just trailing wide. Alara made a great transition from left to right carrying the ball down the wing, but Broxbourne did well to block off her cross. We continued to get some joy down the left getting a throw in close to the corner flag. The throw in was taken by Olive finding Lala who recycled the ball back to Alara who pushed up into the oppositions half from our defence. Alara again made a brilliant run across from left to the right, progressing the ball down the wing, this time being successful with the cross, with Lala already waiting in the box and Olive also making her way into space in the box. The cross found Olive who took a shot at the keeper, which was parried and picked up again by Lala, who put the ball in the back of the net for our eighth of the game. Towards the end Willow picked up and intercepted a ball, making her way towards goal, but her shot was just over.
A great game of football played by both teams today. The referee also did well officiating this match.
Our girls really gave it everything and we couldn't have asked for more. The girls are continuing to grow in confidence and understand the fundamentals of playing as a team. Keep up the great work Alara, Ariana, Eden, Evie, Lala, Olive and Willow.
Lala ⚽⚽⚽
Ariana ⚽⚽
Willow ⚽⚽
Eden ⚽
Assists: Lala x3 Alara x2 Eden, Willow 🤝
Captain: Eden ©️
POTM 🏆 Willow
Opposition POTM 🏆Lala
