Arnold Eagles under 11 Buzzards v Long Eaton Utd 06/12/20

Football back after lockdown and playing away this week against another side with a season’s experience behind them. We also had both keepers unavailable!

Starting line up was: Grace, Dobbo and Freya at the back, Millie centre-mid with Mossy on the left and Erin on the right, with Grace as striker. Subs were Mala, Alice and Violet.

What a start from Long Eaton, scoring straight from the kick off. We were definitely a bit “rusty” after the lay off and Long Eaton put us under continual pressure. Grace made a couple of saves with her feet, clearing the ball away, but the ball kept coming back at us; we hardly had a touch in the first ten minutes! We were a couple of goals behind but all the girls were trying their best. 

We then started getting a bit of possession and the girls were trying get their passing game going, with Dobbo and Freya using the wide players, Erin and Mossy. Millie was beavering away in midfield as usual. Just as were ready to bring the 3 subs on we had a nice move, Millie winning the ball, moving it on to Erin, who rounded her marker and put a lovely ball across to Evie-Rose who went straight for goal, shooting narrowly wide.

We brought Violet and Alice on to replace Freya and Dobbo, Evie-Rose and Grace swopping places, and Millie off for Mala. Mala played on the left, Mossy moving into centre-mid. The changes made a difference and we were more confident and getting more of the ball. Mala and Grace both had good efforts, forcing the keeper into good saves and Erin was playing really well down her wing, getting a shot in and putting over some great crosses.

Mossy, tenacious as ever, was making superb passes to both Erin and Mala and at the back, Violet and Alice closing down their players quickly and clearing the danger. Long Eaton were forced to shoot from further out and all were comfortably dealt with by Evie-Rose. We got to half time having not conceded in that quarter.

The half time talk was all about working a bit harder and tackling back more and the second half saw an even better performance from all the girls, Freya blocking two goal-bound strikes, worth a special mention, and the coaches were pleased that they had responded. We had several chances but couldn’t find that elusive goal. 

Plenty of smiles at the end (and lots of red faces from their efforts). A shout out to both sub keepers but player of the match, for her work rate and tackling back, went to Erin.

Arnold Eagles under 11 Buzzards v Beeston 13/12/20

 

Adie was back from illness, managing the team in atrocious weather, and we were playing at Redhill LC because Calverton was closed because of Coronavirus.Violet was unavailable today and we welcomed back Katie and Sav. The starting line up was: 

Sav, Freya and Grace (for Violet), Erin, Millie and Katie in midfield, with Mala up front. 

Subs were Evie-Rose, Mossy, Dobbo and Alice.

What a start from Beeston, scoring early on and that made them more confident as they dominated us and built a healthy lead before the subs came on. Grace’s trusty right foot cleared the danger several times and she and Freya were brave, blocking shots. Sav did her job well, making vital saves and putting in some excellent kicks. Despite that we were playing our passing game whenever we could. Millie was doing her best to play the ball wide to both Erin and Katie, as well as the occasional ball through to Mala. This was Katie’s first league game playing out and she did very well going forward and tracking back. Erin continued as in last week’s game, and even better defensively. Mala was pressing their defence well and did get a couple of shots away, one just past the post.

After 16 minutes on came the subs – Dobbo and Alice for Grace and Freya, Mossy and Evie-Rose for Millie and Erin. Katie replaced Sav in goal and Sav went on the left, Mala moving to the right with Evie-Rose up top. But againwe were struggling to get any possession and this time Alice and Dobbo performed sterling work at the back, blocking shots and making important tackles. Katie’s handling was excellent.

We started the second half much better and it was a much more even game…and end to end! It was great to see the whole team pressing the Beeston players and we gained a lot more possession as a result. We had a number ofchances, their keeper making some good saves, and some shots just going wide of the goal. Some outstanding saves from both Sav and Katie as well. Particularly pleasing was seeing the defence making those tackles, but also working well with the keepers at goal kicks. We still couldn’t get that goal the second half performance deserved and we only conceded one goal in 30 minutes.  

Player of the Match was given to Mala for her energy and effort throughout the game.

The coaches were delighted by the second half performance in our last league game of 2020. We have seen a lot of improvement in just 6 months from starting up the team. The enthusiasm of the girls and their willingness to learn has made the coaching staff proud – so well done to every player. We are looking forward to continuing the journey next year with them and our new recruit, Ellery, who is now registered to play from January.

The staff wish all parents and players a very Merry Christmas (despite this ghastly pandemic) and a much better 2021. So Best Wishes and Stay Safe!