*****MATCH REPORT - COUNTY CUP R2*****

Caversham Trent Whites vs Wargrave Warriors

An accomplished and vibrant team performance from our girls to seal a comfortable 4-0 win over Caversham Trents and book our place in the 3rd round of the County Cup.

An intriguing draw for us pitting our 3 new Warriors against their old team (and friends)

We’ve been delighted with how quickly Jemima, Lottie and Holly have settled in with their fellow Warriors.

Playing against your friends and former coaches can be daunting and nerve wracking but not for our girls, all of who had brilliant games.

Two weeks ago Lottie smashed in a hat trick, last week Jemima gave us a defensive masterclass and this week it was Holly’s turn to steal the show with a really composed performance in midfield ?

Her midfield partnership with Lucy G was very intuitive and the cornerstone of a great performance with some intelligent passing and always having her head up to scan where her team mates were.

We switched formation today to 4-4-2 partly because we wanted to put their defence under pressure and give them something to think about and partly because we had a few midfielders out injured and more depth in the forwards.

Sometimes you just have to play to your resources as well as your strengths.

And today it worked a treat.
Our first 2 goals were finishes from close range, only made possible by playing 2 up front!

Firstly a great right wing cross found Poppy in the area, one touch to set herself and a shot that was well saved by their keeper but straight out to Belle who slotted home.

A few minutes later a good shot in the box by Belle was saved and bundled in by Lottie against her old team.
A great example of ‘Goops Narrative’. I’m well known for predicting players to score against their old clubs amongst my football pals!

We were well on top in the first half and as we approached half time we scored the goal of the game.

Lucy G was well placed about 20 yards out. She shifted the ball onto her right foot, sidestepped the ref! (she later told me that he kept getting in her way!) and curled an absolutely delicious shot passed the outstretched arms of the keeper into the top right hand corner.

A pearler of a curler.
An absolute ?

With such a commanding lead we settled into a nice pattern of attacking football in the second half.

Poppy down the left was in a real ding dong, often double marked but usually coming out with the ball and linking really well with Lucy G and Lucy M.

On the other side, Jess was bright and alert the whole 2nd half combining well with Kaitlyn. We’d given her a little pep talk before the game to try and beat her defender on the outside rather than cut infield and into traffic.
She took this on board and also made some great runs to get into space and good attacking positions. She definitely had her listening ears today and deserved to be nominated player of the match alongside Holly.

Our final goal was an own goal as a defender looked to clear Lottie’s free kick and diverted the ball into her own net. Lottie also hit the post and both Poppy and Lucy G were narrowly wide with shots.

A clean sheet didn’t feel in doubt today as our defence was typically imperious.

A great team performance and some lovely passing, movement attacking thrust and finishing.

Great job girls.
A well deserved half term break.

For anyone heading away getting some autumn ☀️ enjoy!

Cheers
Coaches