Hitchin Town Belles Under 12

Match Report 2006-2007

Under 12 Team Photo Sunday 17^th September 2006

Sunday, 17 September 2006

Hitchin Town Belles U12 3 v 1 Stevenage Borough Juniors U12

Home Counties Girls Football League; U12 Division 2

Players: Amy, Christy, Ruby, Chloe, Beth, Sophie, Casey, Abby, Tamsin, Helen, Bethany, Carmen (Captain), Maddy, Yvette & Siobhan.

Kicking off just after noon on a very sunny September day, Hitchin Belles had the advantage of kicking downhill in the first half, although this did mean that Christie in goal had to contend with facing into the low sun. The Belles came very close to the best possible start when Helen broke clear in the centre of the pitch with just the goalie to beat in the first minute of play. The final touch eluded her however, as she almost tripped over in the longish grass. This move set the pattern for the first ten minutes or so, with almost all the play in the Stevenage half. Hitchin really had some great chances, with Tamsin first hitting the post and then squeezing a shot from a very acute angle right across the face of the Stevenage goal, with neither Helen nor Maddy able to get the very lightest touch which would have been needed to score. After this first passage of play Stevenage started to get some attacking momentum, breaking out from their own half to force two successive excellent clearances from Captain Carmen, eventually conceding a corner. The set-piece from Stevenage had all the signs of real danger for Hitchin, with the Stevenage corner-taker putting in a very good cross and lots of movement in the box from the Stevenage attackers. Happily the Hitchin defenders were equal to the challenge. Still Stevenage kept the attacking momentum, now enjoying a period of dominance. Another big clearance from Beth saw the ball flying over the fence to provide some respite for the Hitchin defence. Around the 20-minute mark the pressure paid off for Stevenage, when a couple of incomplete clearances in the Hitchin defence allowed a Stevenage player to get off a shot from the edge of the penalty area which Christie got little sight of and couldn't stop. Now 1-0 down the Belles seemed to come alive again and started to make some threatening movements on the Stevenage goal; the match became much more end-to end with a vital 'pincer' movement tackle from Carmen and Amy to snuff out a Stevenage attack following directly after a couple of really good attacking moves from Hitchin, with Helen and Tamsin just not able to get on the end of long incisive passes through into the opposition box. The half came to an end with another chance for Hitchin as Beth made her presence on the left wing felt with a run through out of her own half which she just couldn't finish with a cross into the centre where the Hitchin forwards were poised to pounce.

At the half-time whistle the score stood 1-0 to Stevenage.

The girls were ready for some refreshment, and as a consequence there was an element of feeding frenzy about the sharing out of the oranges - one result of this that a number of the girls ended up with sore eyes from getting juice in them!

Having administered first-aid as required the Belles prepared themselves for the start of the second half. Abby made a hurried change-over of kit with Christy and took over in goal for the kick-off. Almost immediately Stevenage made a determined attack, and Abby's first touch was not totally certain - she half spilled the ball and had to make a very brave grab to claim it before the Stevenage players could make anything out of the chance. Just seconds later the ball again came in on the Hitchin goal, and this time Abby pushed it out with her palm, then fell to the ground in agony. It turns out she had forced back her wrist in making the save, and after a long delay she decided the pain was too severe to continue. Our third goalie of the match was Bethan, who also got straight into the action with a very good save from close range after her first touch pushed a ball out to a Stevenage player lurking on the six-yard line.

After this frantic start to the half the Belles managed to get a bit more of a grip on the game and started to really show how good they are. Attempts on goal from Helen, Tamsin and Carmen all advertised the Belles' intention to get back into the game, and their efforts were rewarded just a few minutes later. Tamsin this time broke onto a loose ball and calmly looped it over the Stevenage goalie to bring the scores level. Now the match really swung towards Hitchin, with a succession of chances coming our way. Continued good work in defence and midfield gave us a strong platform to build on, with Ruby and Christy among others both showing determination in tackling and chasing down. The attacking pressure paid off after another 10 minutes with Tamsin claiming her second goal after breaking out of her own half and taking the ball all the way into the Stevenage penalty area before driving home a superb shot into the bottom corner of the net. Carmen had adopted a more attacking position this half, and with only a few minutes remaining she showed that she too has a great shot, again breaking into the opposition half with a solo run and finishing with a superb low shot into the bottom right hand corner.

So, a well-deserved and hard-fought-for win, but at some cost to the team! Reports from the hospital are that Abby has broken her wrist; we all wish her well and hope she will have a rapid and successful recovery.

Player of the match: Carmen

Report by John Davey