Sunday, 14 January 2007
Hitchin Town Belles U14 8 v 0 Harvester U14B
Home Counties Girls Football League; U14 Division 1
Players: Elise, Alex, Roisin, Louise, Sarah, Natalie, Lauren, Kerry, Monica, Sammy, Sian, Stephanie, Eva (Captain), Joanna.
Scorers Hitchin; Sammy (4) Sian (2) Stephanie (1) Roisin (1)
Half Time; Hitchin 3 Harvesters 0
Match facts;
After not playing a competitive game since 10 December 2006 this was a long lay off for Hitchin and they certainly looked less than sharp in the first half against a 10 girl Harvesters B team who thankfully despite a superb goal keeper who must have thought she was facing a penalty kicking competition for 70 minutes were not going to be the stiffest test of the season but it was a useful confidence building game to play and win by so many goals. Sammy sported her natty new deep blue goal scoring shorts brand new for 2007 and promptly scored 4 goals. Eva was made Captain in the absence of Louise and the Hitchin defence had its quietest match yet with Eva not tested at all. Jo in fact moved swiftly out of defence at one stage and very nearly scored a great goal. Monica and Lauren dealt with any potential threats very quickly and snuffed out any problems and delivered some good passes out of defence. Hitchin started to string some good passes together in the second half and took their chances well scoring 5 times playing into a strong wind. A solid start to the New Year but improvements in passing and ball control will be needed when playing against the top sides and there are some difficult home and away games to come. However more competitive games will sharpen these skills.
Hitchin started brightly with a good move seeing Stephanie have a shot at goal. Then followed a series of corners and shots from all angles as Hitchin really turned the screws. A rare counter attack from Harvesters saw Natalie hit a great clearance through to Sammy who slotted the ball home to make it 1 nil to Hitchin. More corners to Hitchin followed and Jo passed extremely well to Roisin on a number of occasions who then ran intelligently and worked well with Sammy to open up the Harvesters defence. Another Hitchin attack gave Sammy an opportunity and she scored the goal of the match with a curling left foot shot over the keeper and into the corner of the net. 2 nil to Hitchin. Harvesters then resorted to a 10 men defence and rarely ventured outside their half. Alex as speedy as ever worked well on the right linking up with Sian to create real danger and panic in the Harvesters defence. Jo then nearly had her moment of glory with a cracking shot that the goal keeper could not hang on to allowing Sian to nip in and score. 3 Nil to Hitchin. There were a series of further corners to Hitchin before half time.
Harvesters showed a bit more spirit in the second half and with all credit to them they launched a series of attacks, forcing their only 2 corners of the game. Paul worked his revolving substitutes system well giving all the players a good run out. It was inevitable there would be another Hitchin goal and Sammy hit her hat trick shortly after the half began. Hitchin 4 nil up. Stephanie then let rip a tremendous shot from far on the right side and sent a 25 yard shot straight into the net. A fair reward for the hard work she puts into midfield. Corner after corner went to Hitchin and Sarah continually picked up the ball in midfield and she made several dangerous runs into key areas, causing panic amongst the defenders. Sammy then hit in her 4th goal a great achievement in any match to make it Hitchin 6 nil to the good. Sian got in the act again to score her second goal and Roisin after a great move scored from a corner to make the final result Hitchin 8 Harvesters U14B 0. A strong second half performance with some good passing moves capitalised on well by the Hitchin strike force.
Girls of the match: Sammy for scoring 4 and wearing her new scoring shorts! Roisin for some great jinking runs and holding the ball up well. Lauren and Monica for some very solid defending but even better turning defence into attack. Jo for nearly scoring her first goal.
Report by Mike Thompson