Playing on a pitch that was almost as wide as it was long and with many of the girls having not played 9-a-side football together before, it was always going to be a challenge but the girls quickly gelled and managed to go through the tournament without conceding a goal.
We kicked off with a deserved 1-0 win against MK City. Due to the lack of length and abundance of width on the pitch, we moved away from our traditional 3-3-2 formation and opted for a 3-4-1. The girls did well although it was hard to get any attacking fluidity on that pitch. Julia scored late on with a delicate chip into the top corner
At this point we decided to try a 2-4-2 formation, we had never played this before but due to a lack of defenders in the team and the pitch dimensions, we decided it was worth a try as matches were only 15 minutes long and didn’t want 0-0 draws! We had a friendly against Woburn U14s next (who had been allowed to enter the tournament but then not able to play in it due to many of the teams having U12 players!), this was an ideal opportunity to try our new formation out. The match ended in a 1-0 defeat but the girls created as many chances as our opponents and the performance was a big step forward from our opening league game
We were straight back on for a league match v Luton Celtic that ended with a comfortable 4-0 win. Kyla, Paige x 2 and Chloe got the goals. The girls started to pass the ball much better now and the communication on the pitch was excellent
We finished the league with a 0-0 draw against Bedford which we had the better of. This result meant that we topped the group on goal difference to set us up for a semi-final against Luton Celtic
A 2-0 win in the semi final saw us deservedly through to the final and a rematch against Bedford who beat MK City on penalties in the other semi final
Julia got us off to a great start with an early strike to settle the nerves. The girls had the better of the majority of the game but couldn’t add to the scoreline. Bedford were always a threat and with 2 minutes left, started to push players forward and put us under pressure. A thunderbolt from their player was heading into the top corner before Abbey pulled off a worldie to keep the score at 1-0. We dealt well with a couple more corners as Bedford continued to put us under pressure to hold on for victory!!
Due to holidays and unavailability, this ended up as a bit of a thrown together team. The girls dealt with this and the pitch superbly and their performances got better in each match.
Abbey in goal didn’t have much to do in most of the games, but as ever with her she comfortably dealt with what came her way throughout. The thing that really separates the good and great goalkeepers is their ability to concentrate and be ready when needed, Abbey displayed this in abundance when she was called upon at the end of the final to pull off a truly outstanding save to keep us ahead and ensure she went through the tournament without conceding a goal
Evie and Sky ended up playing as a back 2 which was a big ask on such a wide pitch. Both of them were as solid as a rock all day and played a massive part in us winning the tournament. They had never even played together before the tournament yet looked as comfortable as any centre back pairing you will see
Grace sat infront of the back 2 and protected them superbly. She sniffed out danger and went on some mazy runs when the opportunity arose. Hurt her knee in the semi final but waddled through the final on 1 leg due to our lack of subs – a real captains performance
Sadie played in centre mid with Grace and put in a lot of work at both ends of the pitch. Skilful on the ball and brave in the tackle and was unlucky not to score on a few occasions. Nice to see her chatting with the girls off the pitch more as well
Chloe played on the right of midfield and was a constant threat with her skill and energy. Always looked to cause the opposition problems and worked hard defensively as well, she was the best player at the tournament
Julia played in an unfamiliar left wing role. She worked hard for the team, covered so much ground and caused the opposition so many problems with her skill and direct running
Kyla and Paige played as our front two and were always a goal threat, whilst working hard to press the opposition defenders and win the ball back high up the field for us
Thank you to Kyla, Sky and Sadie for helping us out on the day and all playing a massive part in us winning the tournament
We now move onto a friendly against Oxford Blackbirds on Tuesday before the league kicks off on Saturday