Ladies 1st XI Vs Ashfield Aztecs 4

26.02.22  South Notts Ladies v Aztecs for club  

Captain Eleanor Wallace led our eager team on to  the pitch at Bingham on a beautiful Spring-like morning.  All itching to compete against key rivals  Aztecs, knowing that  Aztecs  quickly take advantage  of  even one careless wrong move by us. Aztecs were probably feeling the same about us.  So Eleanor’s brisk pre-match pep talk fired up an already fired-up team of South Notts  players.

Elizabeth  (They Shall Not Pass) Turner  notably arrived early  to get togged up, as did the ace Aztecs keeper who has played so well against us for many seasons.   Elizabeth’s warm up exercises are an example to us all. 

Eleanor (Rock of Gibraltar) Wallace and Jo ( Barrier of the Pyrenees) Shaw knew of old what zing Aztecs always put into their pre-planned opening salvos, and how right.  These gave Elizabeth , Eleanor and Jo a tad of bother (as expected), and (as equally expected) they  sent our opponents back , disappointed at being unable to pierce our watchful and very alert defence. Our acceleration on identifying a loose ball and clearing it away  with razor-sharp,  pinpoint accuracy , was impressive and a continuing heartbreak for Aztecs.

Caroline Brackenbury must have covered miles, back in iron-willed defence,  up creating and supporting our breakaway  counter-strokes, while capably organising midfield. 

The  strong ‘Three Musketeers’ of Fiona (the Greyhound) Sweetman, Kate (the Terrier) Parker, Gemma  (the Swift ) Robinson and  Freya (the Meteor) Beaumont   skilfully supported Caroline in midfield. They smoothly switched between solid defence and creative attack. Running, running, running, they stepped up to the mark, reading the frequent and penetrating Aztec attacks superbly. Cleverly switching positions at high speed to confuse Aztecs,  nd cunningly creating open spaces for passes up to our speedy forwards.  All running like Olympic athletes on a good day. Gold Medals to them all.

They must have broken not a few Aztec hearts. 

Up front, Louise (Poacher) Price and Ruby (Rocket) Ryan  on the wings showed their devastating turns of speed, slipping round the back of the Aztecs defence,  time after time.  Aztecs must have been sadly puzzled where our next attack was coming from. Aztecs started to leave our centre unmarked, trying to stop our wonderful wings. 

In the centre, Bethany (the Ghost) Marshall,  Evie  (Shooting Star) Bates  and Izzy  (Shimmering Moonbeam) Brackenbury kept drawing off Aztec defenders with clever diversionary tactics.  These aces of ours kept taking advantage of careless openings by our opponents and had many attempts of their own at goal. But the Aztecs keeper had another stormer of a game (as expected) and somehow held us out. Repeatedly. 

Caroline (the Incomparable) Brackenbury began to see cracks opening in the increasingly desperate   Aztec defence. They failed to notice our magnificent Caroline slipping by, almost invisibly. She shrewdly slipped forward to pick up driving crosses from Louise and Ruby.  Unmarked,  Caroline slotted two decisive goals.

 Then the opponent defenders turned to try to shut down Caroline.  Ruby Ryan  on the wing saw a tiny opening, another careless wrong move  by Aztecs. Ruby   quickly took advantage to make it 3-0 which is how it stayed. 

What was noticeable to those on the touchline was South Notts’ terrier-like application by absolutely everyone to tackling, tackling back and not letting go until we had recovered possession.  Combined with our superior fitness, and trying to be unmarked and visible to receive passes, all this caused Aztecs a lot of difficulty. 

It is always an inspiration at this time of year as our Team has settled down to mutual understanding and beautiful team-work. Well done everyone.   Coach’s under 18 prize to Ruby Ryan.  

Thanks to club umpires Morgan and Pitsillos, their skills and acuteness were  much appreciated

Coach’s comments

1. Positional play could usefully be improved. Sometimes we had 3 forwards players far too close to each other, a gift to defenders and it confuses our own side.  Space it out, stretch the opponents’ defence. 

2. For shots at goal in particular, first make sure your feet and shoulders are properly aligned. We had many shots at goal which went just wide of the post.  Too many. With luck (and with better feet and shoulder positioning) we might have scored a lot more goals than we did.