| Match Report |
Match report 24.11.18
South Notts V Meridian
Juniors:- Ruby, Holly, Kate, Abbie, Izzy B, Gracie, and Poppy
We knew this was going to be a tough one. Meridian are strong, skilled, fast and experienced. We have speed and enthusiasm but these were not enough against this side.
This was not a day to forget, but a day to learn from. Meridian opened the scoring quickly and as usual South Notts counter-attacked strongly but in doing so, we exposed our defence team to unrelenting pressure.
Elizabeth in goal played a storming game, no surprises there, and then Mel, Jo, and Holly kept rebuilding our brick walls of defence. Solid, reliable, creative and what is even more, we never gave up. Right little Terriers. Received over 100 pulsating multi-attacks but conceded only 8 goals, which in the circumstances showed an excellent defensive ratio.
We had a choice of attacking hard and powerfully, intending to get more goals under our belts, or to shut-down entirely into defensive mode, to stem the flow of Meridian goals. Typically of South Notts teams, our stars chose to contest every ball at every level, to try to level the score line. Not to go into shut-down defensive mode.
Caroline and Katrina were denied opportunities to control midfield , however much they tried valiantly to cover the ground, and Ruby/ Kate/ Izzy B/ Abbie/ Gracie/ Poppy, were there consistently running up in attack and supporting Beth in the forward line. The Meridian goalkeeper had a good game saving our insistent drives at goal and the South supporters were cheering us on. One of those was a Toothill teacher who was watching, and really admiring, how well Abbie and Kate were playing.
Penalty corner to us, Mel was summoned forward. The call went out for her steely forearms. Quick evaluation, Mel collected the ball from the push-out and she resolutely fired the ball into the back of the Meridian net. Just to show who is boss in such matters. Well done.
Abbie was awarded the coach’s under-18 award prize for her outstanding commitment and tenacious skills. Thanks to Simon for umpiring. Final score 1-8
Coach’s tips:-
1. Midfield is hard. Up in attack, back in defence, be everywhere. Noted. But it helps to keep the midfield line structure in a line, not wavy.
2. Sometimes players were too close to each other. Only one Meridian player was sometimes needed to mark two of us. That created an overlap with an unmarked opponent.
3. A bit too much up and down the middle of the field, the M1 factor. We must stretch the opposition wide and speed round behind them, using the full space.
4. Sort out tackling. Great effort, nothing wrong with that, but sometimes two of us enthusiastically tackled the same player, and got in each other’s way. Remember the TEAM. If two of us are going in, then one should go round behind the tackler so if the tackler is beaten, there is an immediate follow up when the opponent is least ready for it.
5. Play to our strengths. The ball travels faster than any player can, so we must make ourselves more visible to be unmarked and receive firm passes.
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