27/09/2026
* U14s Match Report *
Today saw our 3rd league game of the season, away, against AFC Stoneham.
We knew this was likely to be a closely fought game as we played these girls twice last season in Div 2, losing both games by the odd goal.
FIRST HALF
A nice composed start to the half with an altered back line of Jess, Llana, Chloe and Tilly (making her first starting appearance at CB alongside Chloe) doing a great job of holding the back line, and limiting Stonehams chances to outside of the 18 yard box. Our central midfield of Sophie and Emma were working nicely, however they were getting slightly over run as Stoneham were playing basically a midfield 5, leaving a lone striker up front. Out wide Layla was getting forward when the opportunity allowed, their left back was very good and limiting those chances, however down our left Grace was giving their right back a torrid time as she was able to get past her time after time and whip great balls across the 6 yard box. Up front Katia was finding space hard to come by as Stoneham had two towering Central Defenders, however that did not stop her from working non stop - and Poppy was doing "what Poppy does" Non stop running, closing down defenders and trying to win the second ball - and from one of these passages of "closing down" Grace received the ball just outside the 18 yard box, and thought "well, lets just give it a go" and caught a great half volley that flew over the keepers head and into the net 1 - 0. A well deserved lead ... As we'd expected this lead galvanised Stoneham who were pushing forward and starting to create some decent chances, their no 9, who was playing wide left was giving Jess a torrid time, but hats off to jess she 100% stuck at her task and was keeping her at bay and limiting her chances. In the middle Chloe was doing a superb job, sitting slightly deeper than usual, and communicating well with Tilly, creating a nice partnership - Wide left Llana was doing her usual IE: Closing the left winger down, snapping at her ankles and giving her no time on the ball. Anything that did get through Evie was out and making some great clearances and constantly talking to the back line. For the remainder of the half it was a real battle, both teams were creating good chances, with Stoneham hitting the post and Evie pulling off a couple of good saves. While down the other end we were getting great crosses into the box, that on another day, could have led to a couple of goals. With around 20 mins to go we made a couple of changes, to get fresh legs on the pitch - Bringing on Willow and Jaya, this gave us a little more stability and allowed us to stem some of Stonehams attacks
HALF TIME 1 - 0
COACHES HALF TIME CHAT - Girls a good half, we knew this would be a battle against a good side. However we know you have 50% more in the tank. We need to really step this up second half and look to finish off the game. But be aware Stoneham will keep coming back at you, they are very dangerous.
SECOND HALF
A good start again to the half with both sides making decent chances, however after about 15 mins of the half we realised that Stoneham had pushed another player further forward, and this was starting to cause us real issues at CB as Stoneham were starting to make inroads. Time for a tactical change - We decided to bring Layla back on at CB, alongside Chloe, and moved Tilly up to mark the no 10, and mark her she certainly did "out of the game" is probably a great comment. This change seemed to give us a bit more stability at the back, however we were aware it would limit our forward opportunities. As the half progressed we made a couple more changes bringing Jaya on in midfield and moving Poppy out wide, and that opened the game up for us as Poppy pace dragged the Stoneham defence backwards, and started to open up chances for us. Back at the other end the defence were performing superbly, Chloe's constant communication and organisation was paying dividends and the back line worked tirelessly, thereby limiting Stoneham to no more than 1 or 2 shots on target, which Evie was equal to - However momentum was building and Stoneham were creating a number of good opportunities from corners, and from one of these corners we failed to make a decent clearance - Stoneham pounced and knocked a ball high into the net 1 -1 At this point the girls could have folded - However as Mark pointed out "In a battle, id always put money on our girls to come out on top" and that's exactly how it turned out. They didn't fold under pressure and continued to fight for every ball. When chances arose we did what we do well .. Ball down, wide to the wingers (Poppy & Grace) who drove forward and got great ball into Katia.
FINAL SCORE 1 - 1
Opposition player of the day went to Katia who just never gave up, today she was up against it with 2 colossal CB's but she battled and battled.
Parent's player of the day went to Evie, who was great in goal today - Great saves, good feet and very vocal (although i think we'd all agree Evies always vocal) 🤣
Team Sponsor:
Shaw Decor
