Fire Hawks v Tigers Black

Firehawks vs Tigers, The Deanery, 21/11/2021.
Attendance: 31
Weather: Rainbows, rain, blinding sunshine, cold winds.

*Freya
*Isla(2)
*Fearne
The Firehawks entered the new phase of the season against a team they had not played before, The Tigers. The Tigers had topped their league entering this new phase, and their girls had clearly ‘had their weet-a-bix’ this morning. If size mattered, The Tigers had the advantage when the teams lined-up.
The Firehawks got straight into the game and applied a lot of early pressure but were unable to find the breakthrough. Abbey and Freya ran tirelessly at the defence and created chances, but The Tigers keeper showed some good agility and safe hands as she kept out some determined Firehawks efforts. Any attempt the The Tigers made to counterattack were quickly snuffed out by Sierra in defence, that’s if they managed to get past Maddison, who was rock solid in front of the defensive line. Manager, Jon, made changes with Selina and Annabel replacing Sierra and Abbey. Lola had very little to do in goal, but if the Tigers came anywhere near the box, she was 100% focused and always kept her eye on the ball in front of her, even if she tricked everyone into thinking she was looking the other way!
The breakthrough came when Freya flew down the right wing and managed to get a powerful shot off into the bottom right corner. It was a thoroughly deserved lead and reward for all Freya’s hard work, but it by no means reflected the pressure the Firehawks had put on their opposition. The score remained 1-0 going into the half-time.
The 2nd half saw Maddison don the goalkeeping gloves and Lola released onto the right-hand side of midfield. Shortly after the break, the Tigers saw their first attempt at goal sail wide of the post, but it was a warning that the game was by no means over. Jon, then put Fearne into goal. He was reminded, rather loudly, by a Tigers supporter that looked like Rag ‘n Bone man, that he should make his changes at half-time. Lola was quickly into the action with a fierce shot that the keeper parried, but Isla was unable to find the back of the net with the follow up. The Firehawks continued to pressure the The Tigers, with an almighty goal mouth scramble where everyone seemed to have a shot….but the score remained 1-0. Annabel, who I confused with Ronaldo today, was running the defence ragged out wide, beating the players, nut-megging 2 of them and using her strength really well to hold of the far bigger Tiger defenders. The 2nd goal came courtesy of Isla. I cant remember the goal so asked the player herself to describe the goal in detail to me…’someone kicked it, then it came to me and I kicked it into the goal’. Maddison was phenomenal today, protecting her defence, carrying the ball forward and knocking it wide. Her had work paid off when, after another dazzling run, she found Isla who made it 3-0. Hard work doesn’t always get the glory, and this was such an occasion. Selina found herself in goal(Rag ‘n Bone man had given up by this point) and made a good save to demonstrated the versatility and skill within the squad.
Maddison’s influence on the match was demonstrated again when another determined run resulted in a goal for Fearne, making it 4-0. The Tigers eventually found their way onto the scoresheet in the dying seconds of the match, the ball finding its way into the net after their first corner of the match.
Maddison’s performance earned her the Player of the Match, but every girl was amazing today, in what was a very tricky fixture. Manager Jon has a great, versatile squad at his disposal, every girl capable of playing anywhere on the pitch. After the match he said ‘I really don’t know what to say’ but…that didn’t last for long!