Hitchin Town Belles Under 12

Match Report 2006-2007

Under 12 Team Photo Sunday 6^th May 2007

Sunday, 6 May 2007

Bedwell Rangers U12 0 v 2 Hitchin Town Belles U12

Home Counties Girls Football League; U12 Division 2

Players: Bethan, Ruby, Christie, Helen (captain), Maddy, Jasmine, Tamsin, Chloe, Sophie, Carmen, Abby, Amy

00383 hits since September 3, 2007

It's not a fight - honest!; Click to expand

A It's not a fight - honest!

So, the final match of the season, and we finish back where we started with an away match to Bedwell Rangers. The Belles are certainly hoping to improve on the outcome of that first match which resulted in a 5-1 loss. The starting lineup sees Jasmine taking up the goalie's gloves while Christie starts as substitute.


Hitchin defending a corner	No Quarter Given

The early pressure does all seem to come from Hitchin, with Carmen and Abby pushing up either wing, and Tamsin attacking the center. One great early chance followed a cross in from the right by Carmen, the ball running all the way across the front of the goal just beyond Tamsin's reach, for Abby on the left to claim and try to pump it back into the area. Bedwell were not easily contained however, and they also had some good chances at the start of the game, with some confusion in the Hitchin defense allowing the Bedwell striker a clear shot, which luckily for Hitchin flew just to the left of the goal. The Belles did seem to be having a bit of a slow start, with some tentative tackling and a tendency to back away from the loose ball in the middle of the field. In this first half the Belles were playing into the wind, which did seem to give some slight advantage to Bedwell. As the half went on the Belles got their game increasingly together, and really were well on top for the whole of the second part of the half. Bethan certainly had a couple of very good shots, and gave the Bedwell defenders a lot of trouble. Tamsin also came close to scoring after a throw by Maddy on the half-way line came back to her, she thumped the ball over the top to Tamsin more or less on the 'D' of the Bedwell penalty area, and Tamsin then put her shot just wide on the right of the goal. Bedwell were not really making any clear-cut chances, with Ruby in particular showing how resolute defending can stop even the strongest opponents, and how a good clearance converts defence into attack in a second! Amy and Chloe showed equal spirit in the strong defensive line which Bedwell really had no luck breaking through. Helen found herself working all over the pitch from her central midfield position. Towards the end of the half Christie came on for Abby who had battled on the left wing throughout. Despite having had much the best of the first half, Hitchin could not convert their good play into goals, and the half ended scoreless.

For the second half Jasmine switched with Christie who took up goalie duties, and Ruby took a well earned rest at the re-start of the game. Jasmine now joined the attack in the middle of the field, and Helen dropped back into a more defensive midfield postion. The wind was with the Belles for the second half, and they looked even stronger from the very start. Within the first couple of minutes a great chance fell to Sophie, with another ball running across the face of the Bedwell goal. She just failed to stretch to get the touch on the ball which would have turned it into the net. Ten minutes into the half and finally Hitchin got the reward for their efforts. The move started with Carmen wide on the right just beyond the half-way line. She put in a great ball over the top of the Bedwell defence, which Tamsin wasted no time in running onto, then used her speed to run across 2 Bedwell defenders to give herself a shot from the right edge of the penalty area which she slotted into the bottom left corner of the goal. A minute later it looked like Bethan might add to the score receiving a lovely little angled pass from Tamsin, but she was adjudged off-side. Another minute later and another chance for Hitchin - this time the ball rebounded off a Bedwell defender to Carmen on the 6-yard line, but her shot hit the crossbar. The pressure was constant - Hitchin easily on top of the game, but still finding it hard to get the final touch to score. Tamsin had another shot from near the left edge of the penalty area, this time her looping shot just crept wide and over the goal. With less than 10 minutes to go in the match the second Hitchin goal came from Carmen; she intercepted a Bedwell goal kick and returned it with interest - her point-blank shot along the ground beating the goalie's attempt to block. There was little doubt of the result after that, and although Hitchin kept up the pressure there was no further score and the match ended 0-2 to Hitchin.


Ball runs across the goal	Heads up everyone!

So the end of the season has arrived - a record of 9 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses is pretty pleasing, and fully justifies second place in the division. The Belles should take particular pleasure from knowing that they did beat every team in the league at least once! Well done to all the players, and let's see if we can keep the training going through the summer to set up an even better next season.

Player of the match: Jasmine (with Nigel trying to take the credit, not to mention the cakes)

Report by John Davey.