U11 Black 24/25 - Hitchin Belles whites

Semi Final Hitchin Belles vs Goffs Oak Girls

Q1

The game starts with some early exchanges in midfield. Hitchin break forward and Jessica gathers the ball up on the second chance. Hitchin start to put on some early pressure, with a couple of shots at our goal, but between Maisie, Isabelle and Jessica, we deal with the threat.

After a lot of midfield battles, Eileen makes some strong runs, pushing the ball forward, but Hitchin’s defensive line is well organised. The first quarter is fairly even.

Q2

Early pressure coming from Hitchin, which leads to four corners in a row from them, but our girls deal with this comfortably. Most of the action for the rest of this quarter moves into a midfield battle, with the odd slight chance for both sides, Millie makes some good clearances, and Eileen makes some nice runs to move the ball towards the attackers but nothing close to a goal.

Q3

Lively start of the 2nd half. Elsie steals the ball off the toes of one of the Hitchin defenders, spreads the ball out to Eileen, who drives it forward, crossing it back to Elsie who shoots at the goal, but it is saved by the keeper. Hitchin then break up the other end and carve out a good opportunity to score – but Jessica again makes a great save from their shot on target.

Hitchin break forward again, and their No.5 has a chance to shoot, but the effort goes wide. Goffs Oak start to take a bit more control and Eileen has another good run down the right that ends with a shot on goal, but the keeper saves. Sarah gives us some good opportunities to break with strong clearances, allowing us to move the ball up towards the forwards. Then Hitchin have another good break down the other end, but Olivia deals with this, quickly clearing the danger. Another opportunity from Hitchin, but again, nothing is getting past Jessica and our defenders today. Eileen is winning several battles in the middle, playing really well and a very competitive game continues.

Q4

The 4th quarter starts and Lois makes good progress down the left wing, getting past several players, but eventually Hitchin win the ball back and go on the attack, ending with a good shot on target, which Jessica makes another great save from. Both teams are working really hard to stop the other team from scoring. Our defenders and midfielders keep on battling – eventually, Eileen strays out down the right wing, she wins three challenges in a row and pushing the ball forward, running towards the edge of Hitchin’s area, and she crosses the ball towards Lois in the middle. One of the Hitchin defenders attempts to stop the cross, but diverts the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the goal – leaving the keeper wrong footed. 1-0 to Goffs Oak Girls with only a couple of minutes to play. Full of confidence, Goffs Oak go on the attack again, but again Hitchin are strong and head up the other end, with two late attempts at equalising, but without success.

The referee calls for full-time and Goffs Oak have won a very hard fought semi-final – and we are now in the FINAL!

But credit to both teams, in what was a very close game. And credit to our coaching team, for organising the girls so well to be able to get all the way to the final, winning against such strong opposition over the last two rounds.  

Opposition Player of the Match - Eileen

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Eileen    

Goal - Own Goal from Eileen’s cross