Round 12 - U15 Girls

What a tale of two contrasting matches..

In round 11 we played a lowly positioned Brunswick Zebra away on a concrete pitch full of stones and high gusty wind. The challenge was keeping the ball in play and it proved a shocking display where both sides tried to play football in very average conditions but they spent the game either watching the ball leap over their heads or practising throw ins or taking goal kicks.... our girls did well in the conditions but the ball was never going to go in, it always went just wide or over the bar. We had dominated the play but late in the game were lucky to escape with a draw as the the ref awarded a legitimate hand ball penalty to Brunswick but Holly pulled off an amazing save where she pushed it over the bar... well done Holly! A hot handed Narin also redeemed herself and saved a certain goal by clearing the ball off the line with a great header.. well done Narin, all is forgiven!

Highlights in a frustrating game:-
Rachel played sweeper for Liz who pushed into the midfield and Rachel had a great game and was clearly best on ground on the day.. well done Capitain!
Holly for her great saves and good performance.. game votes for you too!
Alice for her superb corners
Carmen for a gutsy performance where she won many great tackles and for her good distribution of the ball to the team
Parents for coming to Brunswick to watch a frustrating game in which we should have taken the points
The Wally Award goes to the Ref who spent most of the match checking the girls hair for those dangerous soft plastic ribbons, bobby pins and so called undersized shin pads. Sorry everyone, but what a tosser, get a life mate!
Now Round 12 we played the top side, Kensington who we had not beaten in more than 2 seasons. Coach Lee and the girls would need to put their best foot forward and be on their game... The girls were primed and ready and I heard some great speeches from them in the all girls huddle before the game that demonstrated how keen they were to take to Kensington in front of the home crowd. Well take it they did as the exploded into life with some great football as soon as the whistle went but you would not read about it... Kensington had one attack after 10 mins and the ref awarded an amazing penalty to them when it was clear no body had touched their forward player inside the box. In fact, all the Kensington players went back into their position assuming a goal kick and in the confusion the ref some how awarded a penalty. Our girls were not impressed...so they responded with 3 great goals to go onto half time a well deserved 3-1 ahead. Nat scored a hat trick with 3 very classy goals that were well supported by the team in the build up of play. We were looking good and Kensington were in disarray with their coach panicking and screaming confused instructions.

After a composed assessment by Coach Lee at half time the girls new that Kensington would throw everything at them but they remained confident and stuck to their game plan. The same girl who did all the damage last time for Kensington punished us with 2 sharp goals but Jordy also knocked in a neat header from a well flighted corner by Nat and the stage was set with a 4-3 lead by us with less than 10 mins to go. Nat then came off the bench and pounced on a lovely cross from the right to slot home the winner. The crowd went wild , me included of course...we knew we had the result we had so long waited for.

Highlights were:-
The 4 goals by Nat...great team play and so well executed by her...exciting stuff for the spectators.
Jordy for scoring along with a solid game and some great passes
Jordan Moloney who fought so hard all game and was certainly amongst the coaches votes
Carmen also had another great game
That solid defence...Liz, Ellen Rachel, Narin, Christina and Katherine all played with such determination, in fact some of the tackles and headers were bone crunching and certainly had Liz's mum a little worried...but Liz just took it in her stride as she does.
Brie for her great game in central midfield, she certainly was a ball winner with great distribution to the forwards.
Adrianna for working hard and also playing with the under 16 girls team, she scored for them in the second half in their 14-0 demolition.
Everyone for their contribution - the girls all played well
We remain 4th on the ladder and next Sunday we take on Berwick who are now top of the table (away at 1.00pm) in another difficult and must win game.