| Match Report |
A clearly determined South Notts Ladies XI ran out on to the pitch at Kirkby on Ashfield to play against Ashfield Aztecs Ladies who are a strong, competent, well-drilled side.
New players
Bella and Scarlett joined us and were made most welcome. What a splendid contribution they both made. Always in the righty supporting position, good stick-work skills and very fast to cover the ground.
Elizabeth was in storming form in goal and to get to her, they had to get past the incomparable Mel as sweeper. Melsoaked up the skilled and forceful attacks of our Aztecs opponents and set up numerous counter-attacks from out of our defence.
But to get as far as Mel, Aztecs had to get past the solid defence line of Jo and recently joined member Alice.Forearms of steel, nerves of iron, on which the beating waves of attack were repeatedly broken, and they set up counter-attacks for our midfield and forward lines to handle. Deeply impressive.
Midfield was controlled by Caroline in athletic and devastating fashion, aided and abetted by Scarlett, Poppy, Ruby and Bella/Izzy B. As planned, when Aztecs were attacking, Scarlett and Bella/ Izzy B went back to assist the full back defenders and when we were attacking, they moved up in support of the forward line. It was like having 11 players in 13 positions. Wonderful.
Our midfield seemed to run faster than our opponents and any loose balls were pounced on and sought to be turned to our advantage. Ruby’s tackling back and talking the ball off Aztec players was outstanding. Bella / Izzy B and Scarlettwere thoughtful and always in the right position, and Poppy’s dynamic speed and hockey skills clearly unsettled Aztecs .
Up front, Captain Beth was accompanied brilliantly by Emma and Ruby moving up from midfield as part of the tactical plan. Moving wide, gathering passes and running at Aztecs with goal-intended determination. Wonderful to watch and admire. Beth kept control of the structure of the forward line and did not hesitate to fall back to help midfield if needed,
Emma opened the scoring by taking a long pass from Beth, racing forward and calmly slotting it past their goalkeeper, Aztecs struggled to equalise but managed it just before half time. All to play for.
Then Emma picked up a long pass from Caroline and did it again. 2-1 up and Aztecs raised their game in tactical challenge. Our defence was at full stretch and Mel set up her Rock of Gibraltar, dashing their hopes time after time and if it squirted past her, then Elizabeth destroyed those hopes.
Aztecs equalised seconds before full time, so a hard fought contest ended at 2-2. We look forward to the return fixture when each side will want to end with a clear win.
Mel injured her wrist but we hope not seriously. She went off and Bella subbed for her until the final whistle.
Difficult to name an outstanding individual, as we all played extremely well in different ways, The real victory lay in how fast our players are developing together as a TEAM. Well done.
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