U11

A good game against Bingham in the cup today, winning 7-0. Ellie started us off with a quick couple of goals at the start, going on to score 3 more. Annie and Abby also scored, ably assisted by Charlotte, Katie Sophie. It wasn’t all one way with Tilly stopping a couple of goals in the box, Chloe making diving saves and Lexi and Emily clearing the ball. Katie, Sophie, Violet and Charlotte all had shots on target which the Bingham keeper saved.

Player of the match was Katie. 

 

U12 Thunder

 

Thunder 0 Toton 5

 

Despite the scoreline, The Thunder did well in awful weather conditions.

After conceeding a very dubious penalty in the 1st half, The Thunder conceeded just prior to the break to go in 0-2 at HT.

Some half chances and a change of formation couldnt prevent Toton, who play in the division higher, from adding another 3 before FT.

A fine substitute performance from Ada Dixon ensured she deservedly recieved the POM! 🏆

Another learning experience from the girls, Sherwood await next week.

 

Under 12 Lightning

 

MATCH REPORT 26/1/20

ARNOLD EAGLES LIGHTNING FC V WEST BRIDGFORD DYNAMITE FC

Vicki was away leaving Laura and Steve in charge of team affairs. Molly and Olivia were also unavailable for today’s game so the starting line-up included Edie, making her first start in goal since last season, with Keeley, Grace, Scarlet and Sienna, Evie, Chloe, Sharay and Crystal. On the bench were Keira, Isla, Kayleigh and Mia.

 

Dynamite kicked off and attacked down the middle putting us under pressure from the start. For some reason we seemed a little unsettled at the back and Dynamite continued to press for an early goal. On 6 minutes a flowing move through midfield saw Sharay receive a pass and head down the right flank, her cross evading the defenders and sitting up nicely for Evie to volley home 1-0 to Lightning.

 

Within 5 minutes Dynamite broke through, the defence failed to clear the ball and they scored 1-1.  Within another couple of minutes they broke down the right and the cross into our box resulted in a furious bout of “ping pong” with us trying to clear the ball and Dynamite trying to score…and they did the ball placed wide of Edie, nestling in the bottom left-hand corner 1-2 to Dynamite. Three goals in 10 minutes – great for the spectators.

Game on now! Then the girls seemed to step up a gear and took control of the game, dominating for the rest of the half. Keeley got a knock so she came off and was replaced by Keira. Chloe and Evie began to boss midfield, well supported by Keeley and Grace, with the ball being moved quickly down both flanks. Sienna and Scarlet had less to do now and coped comfortably not allowing Dynamite any space up front. Crystal and Chloe had a couple of shots wide and Sharay broke through down the right several times, only to be thwarted by excellent goalkeeping and solid defending. When she did get a couple of shots away, they went wide. Our shape was good and so was our communication, something we had worked on in training, as the girls began to use the space better.

On 22 minutes we equalised after another bout of “ping pong”, but this time in the Dynamite box. Grace started it off slipping a ball to Evie who had a snap shot blocked; it went out to Crystal whose shot was blocked, then went to Keeley whose shot hit a defender and spun towards the goal line. Crystal was on it in a flash and hit it across the keeper and into the far corner. What a way to hit your first goal of the season! 2-2. We continued to press forward, forcing the opposition to defend in numbers, but they were resolute and we couldn’t add to our score. HALF TIME 2-2.

Laura reminded the players about shape and to keep talking to each other. She also wanted Evie to play attacking midfield and Chloe to stay in front of the centre backs. Keira stayed on as Keeley was still not ready to return. Isla and Kayleigh replaced Sienna and Scarlet and Mia came on for Sharay down the right.

We started fast and immediately forced them back. We had a couple of shots on goal, well saved by the keeper. Grace and Keira pushed on, leaving Kayleigh and Isla on half way with their striker. Laura and Steve were confident we would score and to their obvious relief, we did. Keira won the ball on the left, slipped it to Crystal who beat her marker, cut inside and shot, only to see it blocked. The ball came straight back to her and she recycled it back to Evie who cut in and curled it from the edge of the box into the top corner. 3-2.

We kept piling on the pressure, with Dynamite playing on the break, with a striker who was quicker than our centre backs. They had it covered with Kayleigh blocking and tackling like a demon and Isla using her strength to good effect and putting some lovely through balls down the middle. There were a couple of anxious moments, not least from a goal kick that was intercepted and hit straight back; Isla stood tall, chested the ball down and started our next attack. Grace seemed to be in the right place at the right time, often taking charge and using her passing skills to good effect.

We continued to attack with Crystal on fire putting several quality crosses in. One went right across goal and Mia just couldn’t direct it into the net and then she picked up a loose ball in the box and hit it on target only for the keeper to make a good save. The nearest we came was from a free kick on the edge of the box, that Evie hit round the wall only to see it bounce down off the cross bar and was cleared away. There were a couple more chances, with shots from Keeley and Crystal, but no more goals. Edie had almost been a spectator for most of the game and couldn’t be faulted for the goals. She was confident in handling the ball and her out of hand kicking was superb.

It had been a great game played by both teams and very exciting for the spectators! Laura and Steve were really pleased how the team performed, particularly pleased with their communication, which enabled them to keep their shape and gave players options when passing the ball.

FINAL SCORE: Lightning 3-2 Dynamite

 

Player of the Match: Evie

 

Under 13

 

STANTON ILKESTON 0

ARNOLD EAGLES 5

Millie W 2

Rosch 2

Sophie

 

Arnold travelled to high flying Ilkeston to play in the quarter finals of the U13 league cup on a miserable morning and produced a display that was anything but....

Ilkeston, having registered 12 wins out of a possible 14 and sitting proudly on top of Div 2, could’ve been forgiven for being more than a little confident of knocking out last years Plate finalists whose own league form of just 1 win in 11 perhaps didn’t tell the whole story. The Eagles were not entertaining such ideas and gave the hosts a reminder of the step up they face should they achieve promotion. It was a tight opening 10 minutes and despite having the slope & the breeze in the first half the visitors couldn’t make the advantage count. Arnold were not getting much from the referee and a couple of dubious free kicks were awarded against Arnold for no obvious reason. Ilkeston defended well and thwarted the energetic Rosch up front who was a willing runner all game. Hollie & Milli D were both putting in a shift out wide Hollies positional play and pace on show and Millie’s constant drives forward a key feature throughout , The central defensive pairing of Katie & Charlotte stood firm and Shelby, despite taking two balls to the face in quick succession, brushed it off and proved a solid first line of defence, it was great to see such resilience on such a cold morning and Shelby just got on with it!

Emmy kicked well throughout but wasn’t called into action too much during the first half.... her time would come in the second half when her team needed her the most.

HALF TIME

The second half started and Arnold took the lead - some good work from Rosch saw Millie W finish from close range. Creator then turned scorer, a goal Rosch’s workrate fully deserved.

At this point Ilkeston were still in the game and were pushing forward in search of a goal to reduce the deficit. An important moment in the game saw the Ilkeston forward through on goal and a low hard drive was kept out by a brilliant Emily May save with her feet. The save injected new life into the Eagles and although Em had to leave play a few minutes later, Millie W went and scored again as she started terrorising the hosts defence. Sophie who had not been feeling great before the game joined the action and provided a smart finish at the far post to make it 4. At this point Katie had volunteered to replace Em and was in no mood to give the clean sheet up - a smart save at the front post was met with cheers by her teammates and supporters. Arnold still weren’t finished, Neve on the left and Millie W on right were now both in the mood and proceeded to twist up the Ilkeston full backs who surely just wanted to hear the final whistle at this point. Rampant Arnold added a 5th - Rosch with her second - an energetic performance fuelled by a 5am trip to McDonald’s according to Mum!

Final score 5-0, well done to Sam & Mark too who oversaw a great team performance with lots of shape & movement. A great result to take into the next league game.

GIRLS OF THE MATCH

HOLLIE GEESON & MILLI DEAR

 

It could’ve gone to any one of the girls today but for me Milli D’s tenacity in the first half kept pushing Ilkeston back when their tails were up. A determined display. Hollie defended really well and had her best attacking performance of the season. She caused their full back problems with her pace and played some great passes.