Strong performance, deserved win

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

An unbeaten run started to form, on another nice spring day to be watching our Iguanas show their improving skills.

Oliver, Zach, Cole, Maddison, Sierra, Fearne and Lewis got the game under way, and the action started immediately.

Leaving no time for the Iguanas to consolidate their positions Great Bradford Avengers broke quickly down the right-hand side from their kick off. It was a slick move and whilst the Iguanas tracked back well, a cross-cum-shot was whipped in and found the inside of Oliver’s exposed left-hand post. Oh no! Down after just a few minutes is not a position the Iguanas are used to finding themselves in these days, and the looks of disappointment, especially on the keeper’s face, were clear.

But as we have definitely come to expect from our team, with strong encouragement from the manager they regrouped and immediately started to show some deft passing, placing pressure on the Avengers. Showing examples of this, Sierra made some elegant tackles in her own half, threading the ball to Maddison who made space and ground up through the left.

This pressure started to force the Avengers to play on the break, which became a pattern for the game.

One break forced Oliver into a slick save to his right, followed by good distribution and more neat passing moves to open up the Avengers. A couple of lovely crosses from Lewis failed to quite have the right final connection in the Avengers’ box, but the signs were looking promising. Zach was looking particularly strong down the left-hand side.

The Iguanas had a couple of shots that just went wide, then another quick Avengers’ break saw a shot whipped in forcing the Iguanas’ keeper into a full stretch save to his right.

Fearne made way for Jayden, providing some additional width and an immediate attack up the right which the Avengers defended well.

Freya, Ethan and Isaac then came on to give Zach, Sierra and Maddison a break.

Whilst the teams were evenly matched at this stage of the game the Iguanas were growing in strength and confidence, using their skills in all areas of the pitch and controlling the game quite well.

Fearne came on once more to give Cole a breather and Maddison did the same for Lewis.

Fearne quickly showed she has not lost any of her footwork on the wings and that the Fearne turns were not just for last season. Then a lovely little break that looked like it might be stopped by the Avengers saw a very neat opportunist goal by Jayden, using his lightning speed to get to the ball just ahead of the Avengers’ keeper and sliding the ball under him. The Iguanas were fully back in the game.

This seemed to spur the Avengers on and not long after resuming the game they fizzed in another shot to Oliver’s right which he somehow managed to tip onto the post and out to safety.

This wasn’t to be a lengthy spell of pressure, however, with the Iguanas pushing out from good distribution from the back, and again making passes count to push up the pitch, a few more shots just going wide of the Avengers’ goal.

Half time came after a few very nicely taken Iguanas’ corners, just missing that last inch of touch to put the ball in the net.

Oliver, Lewis, Jayden, Cole, Sierra, Zach and Freya got the second half under way. And this half our customary pressure right from the whistle was in evidence once more, all the team fired up to build on our momentum.

A shot by Jayden in the first 5 minutes of this half was nicely saved by the Avengers’ keeper, but that simply led to more and more pressure from the Iguanas, passing the ball neatly through all channels and keeping attacking moves alive.

Eventually a nice ball forwards by Lewis went up towards the Avengers’ goal and was chased after by Jayden. An Avengers defender just managed to intercept but under serious pressure from Jayden was forced into putting the goal into his own net.

The Iguanas didn’t let up and kept constant pressure on the Avengers. They absorbed the pressure well and made some good breaks, but Oliver smothered any shots very tidily preventing any further breakthrough.

Meanwhile, Cole and Sierra were strong in a defensive midfield partnership that kept these breaks to a minimum, and Freya showed great strength and skill in the centre of the field to both contain breaks and set up more Iguanas attacks.

One such attack left Jayden on with a chance at a shot on goal, but the hard pitch/bobbling ball contributed to seeing the shot go skyward. An opposing shot from the Avengers forced another strong save from Oliver.

Cole took a heavy knock to the shin stopping another Avengers’ break and was replaced by Maddison.

Zach made a magnificent break up the left wing and had his shot just saved. Freya also wanted in on the shooting action and was just denied a goal.

Ethan, Isaac and Fearne came on in place of Zach, Freya and Sierra.

The Avengers now had possibly their best spell of the game with some good pressure on the Iguanas’ half and some nice corners. But the pressure didn’t result in a goal with the Iguanas showing they knew their drill and positions once more and defended well. Isaac guarded the front post resolutely and marked up stray Avengers’ players, and Ethan made a particularly vital last man clearance nearing the end of the game.

This unlocked the Iguanas for a final spell of activity in the Avengers’ half, though the Avengers dealt well with a bit of a penalty box scramble without conceding.

A final Avengers break resulted in the final shot of the game being marshalled out by the Iguanas’ keeper.

A really strong game by the Iguanas who dug in after an early setback and again showed great passing and discipline across the field of play. Their opponents were very strong on the break but this was well contained by the Iguanas and apart from a few relatively short spells the Iguanas controlled the midfield and, on another day, the scoreline might not have been so close.

Unbeaten now in three games the Iguanas will be looking to build on this next week.

Iguana of the Match : Oliver – a number of fantastic full stretch saves and unbeaten in “multiple Avenger players on one” encounters secured the win the team thoroughly deserved.