Strongest attacking performance yet, but another draw

Team Sheet : Cole; Ethan; Fearne; Freya; Isaac; Jayden; Lewis; Maddison; Oliver; Sierra; Thomas; Zach

Our second home game and marginally, very marginally, better weather than last time out. Ravens Youth Flyers our opponents.

For the first time this season the Iguanas faced some early pressure with a bit of a break and a corner against them. Ethan defended strongly and Oliver marshalled the Iguanas loudly as we have come to expect.

Breaking from the goal kick, Freya showed some neat footwork to slot Jayden through on goal but it was blocked by the Ravens, only for Freya to also have an unlucky attempt herself, cut out by the Ravens’ defence.

Cole and Sierra held the midfield but couldn’t stop a long ball through from Ravens which Oliver collected easily in the Iguanas’ penalty area.

This play continued for 5-10mins, then Jayden broke on the left-hand side with his usual speed and let rip with an absolute corker of a shot that the Ravens’ keeper had no chance with. A contender for goal of the season already?

The Ravens responded well to this and started to put the Iguanas under decent pressure, but Zach and Ethan were solid in defence and our midfield were starting to get into the game with decent tackling and calm play.

Fearne, Lewis, Maddison, Thomas and Isaac came on for Freya, Cole, Sierra, Ethan and Jayden.

The revised formation continued to put the Ravens under pressure and Thomas was unlucky not to open his goal scoring account for the Iguanas, just missing a little aggression on the final ball.

The majority of the game was being played in the Ravens’ half, who were having to resort to long balls to relieve the pressure and break through our midfield. One such break led to a shot on goal but it went wide, Oliver very calmly letting the ball go into touch on this and several other occasions.

Steady build up from the goal kick saw Zach release Lewis who took his time teeing up his shot and let a thundering shot fly towards the Ravens’ goal. The keeper was well beaten but the crossbar rattled to the shot and denied Lewis the goal that the shot deserved.

After a couple of Iguanas corners – nicely taken but ultimately fizzling out – the Ravens had another break. A strong shot on target needed an alert save from the Iguanas’ keeper but he was up to the task.

Ethan came on to give Zach a break.

More Iguanas pressure put Lewis in front of goal once more but the Ravens’ keeper saved the shot.

The Ravens then had their best spell of the game, putting the Iguanas under pressure from both open play and corners. One spell of open play led to a free kick from just outside the box. The Iguanas set up quite well for this, but the free kick was excellently taken, leaving Oliver no chance in goal.

Half time wasn’t long after. Honours even, despite relentless pressure from the Iguanas.

As the second half got under way Fearne showed her customary skills on the ball and added to them with some nice passing. A great cross from the right was just missed by Lewis. A move that warranted more for the Iguanas.

Maddison also demonstrated her fighting spirit, putting the Ravens on the back foot from midfield. Thomas was put through on goal but was again unfortunate not to score.

The game was mostly being played out in the Ravens’ half once more – sustained pressure from the Iguanas with the odd long ball break from the Ravens, their keeper able to throw the ball beyond our midfield. Our defensive pairings were wise to this, however, holding position to deal with the attacks. Isaac cleared the ball strongly when it came his way, Zach and Ethan doing the same.

On the few occasions the Ravens managed to break through Oliver was ready for action, frustrating their attackers by being resolute in goal and keeping the scores level.

After a decent attack where she nearly had an opportunity on goal, Maddison was accidentally hit hard on the back of the head with a goal kick. Despite the shock, this didn’t stop our ninja like midfielder continuing to battle it out.

The game was now almost constant pressure from the Iguanas, but there was no finding a way past the Ravens’ keeper. It was evident this was causing frustration with the Iguanas, and our shooting became a little rushed.

Cole, Jayden, Zach, Freya and Sierra came on for Fearne, Thomas, Maddison, Lewis and Isaac.

Sierra’s game had really started to build and she was extremely strong in the tackle and demonstrating some great ball play through midfield. Freya picked up where she had started earlier in the game and used nifty footwork to give the Iguanas clean breaks down the left. But despite this a second goal was elusive.

A couple of final breaks saw a shot wide from Cole and a long shot from Jayden that was dealt with by the Ravens’ keeper. Then the full-time whistle came.

Not a nail biter in the same way as our other games this season. Apart from a terrific free kick against them and a few other quick breaks, the feisty Iguanas always looked in control of the game. It felt like a win we’d let get away from us. Once we get our shooting boots firmly on, we’ll be a very strong force to be reckoned with.

Iguana of the Match : Maddison – a great, warrior like performance in midfield with a number of breaks through the middle, good passing and an overall gutsy performance that did the Iguanas proud.