Under 8’s v Hucknall and Linby

Another fantastic game from all our girls today! 

They all tried their hardest, there was lots of good passing and looking to see where their team mates were on the pitch. 

Their confidence is growing as a team and they are improving with every game they play which is great to see. 

Girl of the Game: Fallon

Under 9’s v Stanton Ilkeston

Our first encounter of the season with Stanton Ilkeston was a hard working, team performance against a very competitive well drilled team.We set up in our usual formation that allows for every player to have a player in support every time they receive the ball .In goal, Holly made some admiral saves when called upon but we unfortunately lost Cerys to illness after only a few minutes on the field. Faith, Isla L and Amelia made no ends of interceptions and distributed the ball well into good areas, where Alia and Ella made a good impact to bring other team mates into the game. Libby played a massive role in various positions today to make sure we were solid all over the pitch, whilst Hattie covered every blade of grass even with an entourage of man markers. Esme lead the line up top, getting herself into advanced goal scoring positions . Player of the day went to Isla L for great interceptions, positional play and distribution.

 

Girl of the Game: Isla

Under 10’s v Lowdham

Excellent game from our u10s today. The running down the wings was amazing, the passing around from back to front was awesome too. 

All the girls played amazing.

Girl of the Game: Erin

Under 11’s v South Normanton

After a last minute venue swap due to a waterlogged pitch, South Normanton came to Calverton. It was a good game, with some fantastic runs up the pitch from Abby and Tilly on the wings, a good solid mid field from Sophie, Katie and Charlotte making interceptions of opposition passes and bringing the ball back into the opposition’s half for Ellie at centre forward. There was brilliant defending from Lexi, Tilly and Sophie, meaning Chloe only had a few saves to make. The opposition put up a valiant fight, with some brilliant saves against Ellie up front, as well as Abby, Tilly and Charlotte putting the pressure on. Tilly was player of the match, playing in defence and on the wing, making some excellent runs and putting the ball in the box. 

Girl of the game was Tilly.

Under 11’s Rebels v Radcliffe Olympics

Girl of the game - Daisy

Under 12’s Thunder v Heanor

An amazing performance from The Thunder today, it whats only thier 7th game playing together.

4 positional changes bout 7 goals with 3 from Emily, 2 from Beth and 2 from Reniyah from the right wing.

Going in 5-0 at half time, the girls carried on the performance into the 2nd half.

Solid displays in defence and energy and drive in midfield ensured there was no way through for Heanor.

POM Liv scored 2 in front of her family who were over from Sweden and Lucy lashed home from the angle.

Nothing but positives from this game. Well done girls 

Girl of the game - Liv

 

Under 12’s Lightning v Toton

We’ve had a few weeks off but this week the Super Squad were back in action and were absolutely brilliant!

The starting line up all knew what their role on the pitch was today and the aim of the game was to start strong by thinking about options, passing and controlling the ball to drive in to the attack. 

Kayleigh, Olivia and Scarlett set up the defence with fantastic communication, shape, control, composure, encouragement and held the line perfectly. A quiet start for them as it was all about the attack but Kayleigh and Scarlett did send some cracking passes up the pitch to start the drive in to the opposition’s half. When Toton did break through, Scarlett and Kayleigh picked up their pace and challenged for the ball or slowed down their attack and forced a pass or shot that Olivia had covered and got her hands on the ball to start the play. Kayleigh has been working on her speed and fitness outside of training and today I saw her run the fastest she’d ever ran to get back to player that had taken the ball past her. She flew like lightning and not only did she get back to the quick sprinter, she got in front of her, held her up and forced her to play the ball with a weak shot that Olivia picked up. Well done Kayleigh, keep up the amazing work!  

Keira, Keeley, Evie and Chloe were on it from the first whistle and pressed, tackled, won ball, passed and ran with the ball with great understanding of the game and incredibly selfless passing. Any of them could have driven to goal and had a strike but they looked at options and mad great choices, even if that meant they couldn’t score themselves. A maturity rarely seen in youth football but the Super Squad are no ordinary group of girls, simply put, they’re a team, they’re friends, they’re family and they all work for each other and they feel each other’s emotions.

Sharay and Crystal were up front and ready to pounce in to action. Both girls are fast and have fantastic close ball skills that they can dazzle you in an instant and then they’re gone…. And taking the ball with them!

Some well timed runs from the pair saw them working in harmony with support from the centre and wing backs. Not afraid to take the player on or pass the ball back for a quick one two move, they’ll give it a go any which way but it means that they’re unpredictable. They both read the game really well and communicate to others. It’s all beautiful to watch!

Boom boom boom…

Evie loves nothing more than playing football and she has such a high work rate and sticks to task every time. Her strength, ball control and competitive drive makes her a force to be reckoned with and today was no exception. Linking with Sharay, who flew down the wing with the ball, passed it to Evie who had that look in her eye that said “I’m totally scoring a goal”, smashed the ball in to the back of the net 10 minutes in to the game, a fantastic finish and a great way to reward the squad for their brilliant opening of the game. 

All the way Sharay…. Not content with only assisting a goal, Sharay flew like an eagle with her beautiful running stride to head for goal. A defender came towards her and she took them on, another defender came to try and stop her but she carried on like the wind was beneath her wings and stuck the ball with absolute purpose. There was nothing the keeper could do and we were 2 goals up after 12 minutes.

Workhorse Keeley was an absolute star today and never stopped from the first minute to the last. She ran fasting than lightning strikes, taking the ball with her and created so many opportunities for the girls to attack. Keeley took the ball from our half and drove in to the corner taking two Toton players with her and she put in a cross that ‘Match of the Day’ would have shown as play of the day because it was perfectly placed for Sharay to get on the end of and send the ball to the back of the net!

A flurry of goals in 5 minutes was a fantastic reward for the girls hard work. 

We made some changes to get our subs on and they were chomping at the bit to get on and get involved. Sharay switched to the left wing and Mia came on at right wing, Isla came on in defence and Edie replaced Evie in the centre. Chloe and Edie took control and held the shape beautifully on the field, and made some gorgeous attacking options for us. Chloe received a pass from Keira and she looked up and saw space so she charged toward the goal. Two opposition players came to challenge her but Chloe thought about where to go and powered past them. A third payer came to tackle and Chloe looked up, waited for the player to commit to the tackle and slid the ball to her right going across the girl where she saw Mia primed and ready to run on to the ball. All the keeper could do was watch the ball go across the goal and then she realised that a purple shirt was coming towards her, she tried to get back to the goal mouth but Mia locked her eyes on to the ball, pulled her right foot back and smashed it in to the ball for it to fly past the keeper and in to the top right corner! The crowd went wild, the coach went wild, even Steve went wild!! This was a special goal as it’s was Mia’s first goal for the Squad and a cracking finish it was too!

Half Time score 4-0.

Sienna and Coco started in the second half Sienna in defence with Scarlett and Coco on the wing. Sienna was listening to the direction from Olivia and reacted perfectly, holding up the opposition when they broke through the line of defence and put a well timed tackle in to win the ball and pass it out to the wing. Scarlett made some fantastic challenges, won the ball and booted it up field to set our attack in motion. Both players have such composure when faced with a “threat” in to our half that it shows maturity beyond their years.

Toton came back at us in the second half but our strength and tenacity all over the field meant that they couldn’t find their flow. They had a few shots at goal but whether it was Sienna, Isla, Scarlett, Kayleigh or Olivia’s safe hands, they couldn’t find the back of the net.

With about 5 minutes to go, Crystal received the ball from Sienna who tackled and won the ball from a Toton attack. Crystal cut in to the centre of the pitch and drove all the way to the edge of the box. A strong line of defence from the opposition saw the ball bounce around the top of the area, a Toton player picked up the ball but was challenged by Chloe who won the ball and moved forwards, only to see 4 Toton players in front of her. With a little tilt of the head, she saw Coco o the wing just slotted the ball I front of her and Coco casually took her right leg back to tap it past the keeper in the bottom left corner!

Final Score 5-0 win for Lightning.

It was a great game and the Toton Team were a lovely bunch of girls and their management we very complimentary of all player on the field. This was a showcase of how to behave under the FA Respect Rules and both teams are a credit to the league.

GOTG went to Mia for timing her runs, driving on to the ball, creating space and finishing a corker of a goal! Mia has been building her confidence and skills since the start of the season and each week she improves. The way she looks to make sure she’s onside, whilst communicating to others to stay on side, is absolutely brilliant, and she’s nailed the timing for her run. This will be the first goal of many if she continues to work hard and training and give it everything she’s got when she’s on the pitch! Well done Mia, I’m very proud of you!

Since the start of the season, the girls have worked so hard on their fitness, skills and understanding of the game and much like our last game against Mansfield, it all came together and the girls played some stunning football. I’m so so proud of them all and can’t wait for next weekend!

It’s the second round of the cup next week, we’re at home against Nottingham Forest and if the girls play like they have been, I’ll be a very happy coach come Sunday lunchtime!

 Girl of the Game: Mia

 

Under 13’s v Southwell City

Player of the match: Emily-May

Development v Nottingham Trent University