Ladies 1st XI Vs Worksop Ladies 3s

Date 27 October 2018
Team Ladies 1st XI
Opposition Worksop Ladies 3s
Fixture Home
Venue Toot Hill Sports Centre
Start time 12:00
Result L 0 - 2
Time played Normal time
Scorers
Match Report

Match report South Notts Ladies v Worksop       27.10.18

Returning players:-Louise and Becky.

New players:-Abbie and Kate. 

Under 18s players:- Ruby, Issy S, Gracie, Poppy, Becky, Abbie, Kate. All welcomed. We are so lucky in having such a pool of skilled and enthusiastic players.

The weather was not so favourable. Winds blowing from Siberia, sleet from the Arctic. Temperatures  2C at max.

We were warmed by the sight of Mel on the touchline. We know she had her hand/wrist injured last week by an opponent’s wild swipe. Unable to play this week, so Mel made up for that by being on the touchline and delivering amusing and ”helpful” (but always supportive) running comments. We all hope that Mel is better soon.

All players who are unable to play are ALWAYS  welcome on the touchline.  It really makes a difference. There were lots of us watching the famous victory over Nottingham Trent Uni. The cheers and enthusiasm  on that day helped raise our  TEAM  game to dizzying heights and unexpected victory.

Captain Beth led us out in zinging fashion against a strong and experienced Worksop side. Side by side with the glittering Elizabeth in full goalkeeping gear, a veritable Alpine barrier to daring incursions by presumptuous opponents. And so it proved.

Jo marshalled the  defence, ably assisted by Sophie and Becky.  Safe and resolute. Seeing them sprinting back so fast to cope brilliantly with Worksop’s long speculative balls and breakaway attacks,  was deeply impressive. Next stop Tokyo Olympics 2022?   Noticeable was their care in assessing where to pass the ball to set up counter-attacks, and they did it so well, repeatedly and cleverly linking up with mid-field.

Worksop  must have spent much time advance planning,  how to try to neutralise the combined athletic and hockey skills of Katrina and Caroline, who started as they meant to finish,  in dominating mid-field and always there supporting attack and supporting defence.

 But clever spoiling tactics by Worksop contrived  with some success to keep the ball more than 20m away from them.  But Katrina and CarolineRuby/Issy S, and  Abbie/Kate  were more than a match for that tactic. Shrewd passing,  always thinking, always moving forward, kept positive and  highly immense pressure on the opposition. Well done all.

The  speed of Ruby and Issy S is awesome.  Abbie and Kate were not left behind in speed and skills. A real wow for the growing number of supporting spectators.

Up front, Beth, Louise, Gracie/Poppy  went at the Worksop opposition like a hot knife attacking butter. Except that in this case, the fame of Katrina and Caroline resulted in the Worksop butter being frozen solid.  Worksop’s senior experience soaked up our repeated attacks which started out of defence as well as starting  out of mid-field.  And by Louise on the right wing, and Gracie/Poppy on the left, creating serious opportunities out of mere chances.

So South Notts Ladies  countered by pressing forward, being pushy. High risk, but there are no faint hearts in South Notts Ladies. But in doing so, South Notts Ladies exposed our defence to long speculative balls and  fast breakaway attacks by Worksop, 2 of which were successful. 28 were not.  94% success rate to South Notts defence. A good ratio.

So  we went down gallantly 0-2. No disgrace, everyone played well, we were out-thought by seniority and experience. We plan to do better in the return fixture in the spring. Thanks to Ken for umpiring. 

Some positive coaching thoughts to reflect on.

  1. The ball travels faster than any player can run. Worksop could not match our speed, so used this tactic in break-away attacks to get behind our midfield, and be 4 of them running at our 2 or 3 defenders.
  2. Pass the ball to a TEAM player,  rather than running with it solo  for too long.
  3. Midfield is very difficult. Up supporting attack, back supporting defence, all at the same time.  But proper concentration on attack to gain goal advantage resulted in too big a gap developing between midfield and defence.
  4. Sometimes there were too many of us standing too close together. That was meat and drink to Worksop. We must keep wide, we must maximise our use of our  wing-space and force the opposition to come out wide to defend. And that will open up goal-scoring chances for us in the centre.
  5. What do we do if there is a loose ball? Make sure and get there first. Sometimes we allowed  our opponents to get there first, and then we tried to take it off them. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. With our astonishing speed, we should always have been there first.

But a very creditable game in extreme and difficult weather conditions, and a five star effort by us all.  WELL DONE, THE TEAM!

Name Squad number Position Scored Assists Cards