As the sun was shining, the team started arriving after a long trip to Chipping Sodbury. Everyone knew it was going to be a tough match as St Nicks had won all but one game. Another factor that didn’t help was the fact that the opposition had a whole new squad on their subs bench. The match started off well with BLU holding strong possession. BLU had some amazing chances with some close missed shots from Jess but the team kept on going. Betsy and Katherine were rock solid in defence making some crunching tackles while Maeve showed safe hands with some extraordinary saves. Then, about halfway through the second half, we broke and Kate made a well-time run for Jess to confidently pass to and Kate out skilled their defenders to score a world-class goal. As the team celebrated, St Nicks swapped their entire team so we knew we were going to have to work hard to hold on. Unfortunately, we gave away a penalty and there was nothing our keeper could do as they fired it into the corner. After a few minutes of high work rate from both sides (with Iris working tirelessly to get the ball back), the halftime whistle blew. After an inspiring speech from Andy, we brought fresh legs on and we were determined to get a goal back. Due to the fact that St Nicks had a whole new team they could bring on, it was a tough second half. Ellie’s tackles were timed to perfection as some great runs by Alice proved to be working. St Nicks were showing that they were unstoppable on the break though and three more goals were scored by them. However, BLU’s kept on fighting with a shot on target from Lamorna hitting the post. Lily showed her pace and skills as she raced back to help the defence with her marking on corners making a real difference. When the full time whistle blew, even though we had lost, everyone felt it had been a thoroughly good game and that St Nicks had tested us and had brought out the best in us. Maeve had also boosted our energy levels at the end of the game by bringing Easter eggs for her birthday. It was another amazing performance from BLU’s against a tough side and we’ll now be moving on to train for our next opponent.
Written by Lamorna from BLU U11.