U9 Turquoise 24/25 - Harpenden Colts U8 Kites
GOG U8T 💜🦩💜 The second game of 2024 and our first game at home to Harpenden Colts U8 Kites. After getting back to winning ways, the girls were keen to continue the momentum.
The first quarter and we were on the attack from the first whistle. The girls were passing really well with each other. There was some real fluid football being played between Alara, Evie, Lala and Ariana. Alara made a brilliant run out from the back passing to Lala who had her shot saved by the Colts goalkeeper. Another attack followed after with Lala making great progression down the left with the ball, teeing up Ariana for a shot, but her effort was off target. After a bit of defending Evie then continued with a brilliant run from our half down the right wing and fed a pass into Lala who narrowly missed the target. Unlike their first attempt, the next was successful with Lala making another great run from the our half down the left wing, providing Ariana with a shooting opportunity, which she took well for our first goal of the game. The attacks continued with both Lala and Ariana missing opportunities to extend our lead. The Colts almost caught us out on the break but some great tracking back from Evie and Alara saw out their attack for a corner. We then had a corner the other end which was delivered fantastically by Lala into the centre of the box. The delivery caused a bit of a melee in the box between both teams, which Ariana ceased on and knocked in for our second goal of the match.
The second quarter and both sets of teams gave it a real go! The Colts started to attack a lot more and the game started to get confined more to the centre of the pitch. Eden, Evie, Olive and Willow really got stuck in and were all really physical. Eden put in some good challenges in defence and really held her own. A good recovery from Eden with an even better pass set Evie off down the right who took the ball under control and made a superb run towards goal and made a great attempt on target. When we saw the net move we nearly erupted on the coaching touchline, but the effort was just wide. The Colts were on the front foot a lot more in this quarter and were very unfortunate to see a great effort of theirs hit the post.
The third quarter of the game started in similar fashion to the first. Ariana made a good run with the ball, but the Colts keeper came out well to collect the ball just before she could get her shot off. Eden was solid in defence, with both Lala and Alara working really hard in the midfield. The Colts made a good effort towards our goal which saw one of their players clipped in our box and a penalty was given to them. Willow did brilliantly to stand her ground and pulled off a save on the line. A sub was made with Olive coming on and Ariana coming off to inject a bit more energy into the game. Lala then followed up with a great run down the left and sending a ball into Alara who saw her effort saved from the keeper. Lala then went on another run missing out on goal with another save from the Colts keeper. Once again after some good defending and passing out from Eden, Lala almost had another chance to extend our lead, only for the Colts keeper to bravely come out and smother the ball. The GOG attack ensued this time with Alara making another attacking run and her shot going just wide. Lala then had another two efforts on goal, but just lacked the clinical edge.
The fourth quarter and the game really opened up with both teams playing some great football. Eden, Evie, Willow and Ariana took everything defensively thrown at them and gave the same back in attack. Ariana saw an effort from a corner just waiting for someone to get on the end of. Eden continued to impress at the back putting in some great blocks and getting her head up and producing some clinical passing. The girls really gave it their all in this quarter and subs were made half way through with Lala and Olive replacing Evie and Ariana who put in good shifts throughout the match. The Colts were so close to breaking the deadlock down our left, however a brilliant recovery run and sliding tackle from Willow saw off the danger. Poor Willow hurt herself in the process and had to come off as result with Evie back on replacing her. But it was great to see her back with us on the touchline and smiling as the final whistle blew.
A brilliant game of football from both teams. A shout out to the ref Lila who did a great job officiating the game. Some of the girls may have felt they they didn't play well, due to playing different positions and the nature of the game. However, from the coaches and parents perspective this couldn't be further from the truth with all us feeling so proud by the girls efforts today. It was so hard to pick a player of the match because all of them played so well. The girls are continuing to grow and let's keep this energy going! Great game Alara, Ariana, Eden, Evie, Lala, Olive and Willow 👏🏾
Ariana ⚽⚽
Assists: Lala x2 🤝
Captain: Ariana ©️
POTM 🏆 Eden
Opposition POTM 🏆Ariana
