- Overcast
- Dry
- Weak
After a three week break with no competitive matches, the ladies were itching to get playing again and were really up for this game against the Cambridge University Ladies.
We got off to a strong start and we were competing in all areas of the pitch. Several chances were made in the first half, the pick being a raking cross field ball from Tash that found Stacey through on goal, cleverly springing the offside trap but was unable to get the shot on target.
This was to be the story of the first half (and whole game to be honest). chances were created but couldn't be put away.
We were to pay for these missed chances on 42 minutes when a speculative shot from the edge of the area caught Rachel's back en route to goal and diverted it enough that Katie was unable to adjust and get to it, despite a despairing dive.
Half Time 0-1
It was a positive half time team talk as we had probably played our strongest 45 minutes of the season barring the Corby county cup game.
There was an enforced change as half time as Amy had to come off due to a recurrence of a back problem. This allowed Lucy to take the pitch after her lengthy injury absence.
The game followed pretty much the same pattern of the first half. It was end to end with both teams playing some excellent football but we were still creating the better chances and on 66 minutes after only just getting onto the pitch, Alice worked the ball to the edge of the 6 yard box but was unable to turn her body enough to get a shot on target, with the ball going narrowly wide of the post.
On 75 minutes we had to resort to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation to try and claw the 1-0 deficit back.
The front 3 held a high line and we resorted to a more central midfield 3 but we just couldn't get the breakthrough our play deserved.
With almost the last kick of the game, Alice swung a corner in and a huge scramble in the box created havoc but it just wouldn't fall clearly enough for one of our ladies and a stabbed shot went just wide from a couple of yards out.
Final Score 0-1
Football is a funny old game, no more funny than today's game. Whilst it was an excellent game of football between two young, fit and skillful sides, we lost quite simply because we didn't take any of the good chances we had during the game. It was also great to see Stacey and Lucy returning to the squad after injuries, good to have you back ladies.
Still a long way to go this season and we were playing against a quality team who will be there or there abouts at the end of the season.
A strong performance from all but player of the match went to Nat.
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