Hitchin Town Belles Under 12

Match Report 2006-2007

Under 12 Team Photo Sunday 3^rd December 2006

Before...	...and After!

Sunday, 3 December 2006

Hemel Hempstead Town Reds 7 v 1 Hitchin Town Belles U12

Hertfordshire FA County Cup; Second round

Players: Christie, Abby, Amy, Ruby, Maddy, Carmen (Captain), Helen, Bethany, Sophie, Tamsin.

Meeting at Ickleford on a fine Sunday morning, the worry is whether the heavy rain overnight will mean another postponement caused by waterlogged pitch like the week before. Hearing nothing from the opposition manager, Nigel decides we should set out and hope for the best. Arriving at Hemel initial indications are that we may be disappointed - opposition supporters are gathered in the car-park reporting a very wet pitch. Nigel and the opposition manager take a walk around the pitch - it certainly is wet and muddy - and decide that we may as well hold the match now that everyone is here.


Everyone dance!	Covering Back

As well as the heavy pitch, Hitchin have the handicap of only fielding 10 players - last minute withdrawals mean that we will be playing the match one girl down! This doesn't daunt the girls, and under captain Carmen they take the pitch full of hope and determination. The match starts off fairly slowly - the ball is hardly moving over the surface and it isn't too easy for the players to move either! At the start the game is fairly even, Hitchin having the first real chance after five minutes or so when Tamsin won the ball around the half-way line, dirbbled it all the way into the area, and then struggled to get it out from under her feet to finish it - the goalie came out and smothered the ball and the chance went begging. Another 10 minutes of hard work in the heavy conditions, and the Hemel team started to get on top of the game - they seem to be better able to connect well with the ball and raise it off the ground to get some distance on their passes. Their reward came with a goal taken from very close range after Christie in goal had made a very brave save, taking a ball in the face in doing so, and the rebound fell to a waiting Hemel player who looped it in to the side of the goal over Christie still trying to reclaim the ball.

Now Hemel were well and truly on top of the match - for the Belles the emphasis was on defence and trying to get the ball out of their half for at least some pressure on the opposition defence. Within 5 minutes Hemel claimed another goal, this time from a corner which just left the ball in the Hitchin penalty area waiting for someone to poke it in. Another 10 minutes of stubborn resistance and Hemel drew a further goal ahead as the effort started to really tell on the Hitchin players; slogging through the mud was really tiring the girls, and in this case a break-away by Hemel left Hitchin with 2 defenders facing 3 attackers. Half time arrived and the Hitchin team were tired but still determined, hoping that a rest and some re-organisation would help them come back into the match in the second period.


The chase is on	Very hard defending

For the second half Christie joined the outfield players and Bethany took over in goal. Despite their best efforts Hitchin still looked the weaker team, and before long Hemel helped themselves to another goal. This time the imposing No. 18 showing that a good strike on the ball, with plenty of force behind it, could produce a lovely shot even in these boggy conditions - the shot right from the edge of the penalty area flew high into the goal, giving Bethany no chance. Even now Hitchin didn't give up, and their resilience was rewarded just a couple of minutes later when Tamsin picked up a ball on the edge of the area right on the goal line, dribbled across the front of the goal and calmly placed the ball past the Hemel keeper to pull the score back to Hemel 4 Hitchin 1.

This proved to be the best moment for Hitchin in the half - Hemel's superiority and advantage in numbers continued to make the difference, and three goals in fairly quick succession really finished the game off. The last of these was certainly the best, and probably the best goal of the match, with the Hemel No. 10 taking the ball into the penalty area, turning on the ball to go round the Hitchin defenders, and shooting into the center of goal.

The final score is a harsh judgement on Hitchin - they tried to play in the very difficult conditions, which will only have made the disadvantage of being one player short even more telling. In the end we just have to accept that this match was beyond us on the day. But on another day, with a more playable surface and a full-strength team.....

Player of the Match

Player of the match: Christie, for some outstanding saves in the first half.

Report by John Davey.