U10s

On Sunday the 10th of October BLUs U10s rocked up to South Bristol Sports Centre ready to take on Whitchurch U10s. First to take on the role of goalkeeper today was Zoe, supported by Eleanor and Isla in defence. After a bit of a rocky start to the game, we slowly began to get into the flow of it. Eleanor and Isla were confidently clearing the ball to our midfielders (Bonnie, Poppy and Evie) who were then travelling with the ball up the pitch and passing it on to our striker Sophie. Substitutions saw Alice come on upfront, as well as Leah and Niamh come on defence, immediately getting involved in the game and clearing the ball away from areas of danger. Despite our best efforts, the first half of the match did not go our way, but we will not dwell on that as the highlight of the first half was when Eleanor took on the role of goalkeeper. Nobody told us that the Peter Schmeichel of U10s girls was in our team! No matter what direction the shot came from, or the power that was behind the shot, everytime Eleanor stopped it from going in the back of the net. (Don’t worry Eleanor, we won’t stick you in goal every match!).

The second half of the match is when we finally started showing Whitchurch U10s what we were made of. With it taking Isla just 3 minutes to score our first goal of the match! A wonderful goal from outside the box that curled just inside the post in the bottom right corner, which nobody (not even their goalkeeper!) expected to go in. With a goal in our back pocket, the girls finally started to show their strength and skills through the game. Leah was our current goalkeeper with Niamh and Evie in defence, not letting a single Whitchurch player close to the goal, clearing the ball away everytime it came near the box. Our midfield of Zoe, Isla and Poppy were showing their confidence in keeping possession and passing the ball around. Leading to our second goal of the game, again by Isla. A lovely pass from Evie found Zoe in the box, who then passed it to Isla who then beautifully slotted it top right corner of the goal. A quick change saw Bonnie come on in attack and Eleanor and Sophie come on in defence. Not long after that came our next goal of the match, with Evie securing her first goal for BLUs! A beautiful pass from Zoe saw Evie receive the ball and precisely place it in the bottom corner of the goal. Our last goalkeeper change of the match put Poppy in goal till fulltime. With other substitutions bringing Alice, Leah and Niamh back onto the pitch. An amazing tackle by Bonnie lead to our final goal of the game. Isla came into possession of the ball and dribbled it past their players and into the box, powerfully hitting it into the top left corner. An absolutely beautiful goal, definitely a contender for goal of the season!

Every single player today showed resilience and strength through the game, making all of us coaches very proud. Unfortunately, we are not able to give everybody Star Player (even though they all definitely deserve it!). Our Star Players this week went to Isla (for scoring a wonderful hat trick and playing brilliantly in all positions) and Eleanor (for her amazing performance in both goal and defence, not letting a single ball get past her).

Written by Ellie Haines (U10s coach).

The sun was shining and the mood was high as we entered out first away game of the season. Despite everybody getting lost and struggling to find the playing fields, we all managed to get there in time for kick off. We started off strong with midfield (consisting of Zoe, Evie and Isla) confidently passing the ball around in Downend’s half, keeping possession as we settled into the match. This lead to the first of many attempts by our striker Sophie, but none were quite getting past their strong goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Although we were keeping possession well, Downend were still able to break through on counter attacks, but we had nothing to worry about with Susie and Rosie in defence, kicking the ball away any time it came near them. Poppy started in goal with not much to do and only touching the ball a couple of times in that position as the game developed. As we were reaching halfway through the first half Isla played a beautiful through-ball to Sophie who placed it in the back of the net. Next we carried out a few substitutions, bringing fresh legs onto the pitch and giving our starting players a well deserved rest, also switching around our goalkeepers with Isla next to take on the role. Our midfield now consisted of Niamh, Bonnie and Alice, who worked hard and put all their effort into getting the ball from defence to our new striker Zoe. Our new defenders Leah and Eleanor understood the job they had to do and were confidently tackling Downend’s players and clearing the ball out of our box. Despite our best efforts, Downend took control of the game at the end of the first half.

Not letting this get us down, we started the second half with our head’s held high. Sophie started the second half in goal, backed up by Rosie and Susie in defence. Again, we started off strong, passing the ball around. If the ball was ever lost Bonnie was on her toes in midfield running after the players, tackling to get it back in our possession and then passing it on to Poppy who was now our striker. Poppy had a fantastic run out in attack, with strikes going towards the top corners, however their goalkeeper this half was strong as well, so all attempts were being saved. New ways to score were being thought up by our attacking players, this lead to Poppy placing a lovely ball across the box, landing directly at Isla’s feet, Isla then placed the ball precisely in the back of the net, securing us another wonderful goal. Our final goalkeeper swap of the game resulted in Bonnie finishing the game in goal. With changes seeing Alice and Leah make their way onto the pitch. Leah understood her new role in midfield, confidently tackling players and feeding the ball through to Evie and Poppy. A slight knock to the knee then saw Eleanor heroically come on last minute as an injury substition for Alice. This saw us to the final whistle (a bit earlier than anticipated as other substitions were lined up!) and therefore bringing our first away game to a close.

Our star player trophies went to Rosie (for her amazing defensive performance, not letting a single ball past her) and Isla (for her fantastic passing, shooting and keeping of possession in midfield).

Written by Ellie Haines (U10s coach).