Match report

Match report

There are times when, despite having good intentions and the best laid plans, you take a bit of a pasting. No doubt this thought occurred to the coach of the Norway team the other week when, despite being ranked 11th in the world by FIFA and only three places below their opponents, they were on the bad end of an 8-0 thrashing by England’s indomitable Lionesses. So it was too with our U10 Blue team this week who took a bit of a beating from Mt Barker United U10 Red, and by the final whilst heads were down, legs had given out and there were a few wobbly bottom lips, and this was just from the coaching staff.

Even on our darkest days there remains a good reason for optimism once we have retreated to our corners and licked our wounds. And the positives that can be taken from this game came in the form of the hitherto unmentioned first half. Indeed, a few minutes before the half time whistle Woodside had just scored after a 100kmh counter attacking run by this week’s Captain Tyler Berwick, which capped a period of dominance and brought Woodside to within a couple of goals of Barker, giving every reason to believe that the game was set-up for a competitive second half. Prior to that goal, Woodside had a five-minute spell where they ran the game, with Forward Evany Nunn giving a glimpse of her future as a midfield dynamo by dropping deep and putting in a huge amount of work to close down the Barker midfield and win the ball. Signs that Woodside would find the net first came around the fifteen-minute mark, when forward Charlotte Cosgriff was just a whisker away from taking advantage of a through pass that would have seen her one-on-one with the keeper. Even then, in the fifteen-minute period between United’s early opener and their second goal, Woodside were impenetrable in defence with Charlie Hartas making life very difficult for the United forwards through good marking and pressure, and Theo Nicholson having a real beauty of a game in goal, coming off his line like a professional keeper and shutting out almost everything Barker could throw at him.

Admittedly, getting a result against one of the strongest teams in the division was always going to be a bit of a challenge, but the Blues have given a good account of themselves on the two previous outings this season and the scorelines have been respectable. This time around was a bit more painful, but we will get back up and have another go on Friday night in the same place against the Mt Barker United Blue team. Our last meeting was a very close affair and we are hoping the Blues can dust themselves off and make life hard for their opposition once again.