Under 11s | Coton FC

3 days ago

It was with muted trepidation that Coton U15 Girls returned to the scene of last season's surprise defeat at the hands of a Chesterton team who, on their day, can be a match for anyone in the division. Coach Sam had decided that getting to the match and hour before kick off(!) would be beneficial giving time for the girls to "wake up", however, there was still plenty of yawning going on whilst he put them through their paces in a vigorous pre-match session. The pitch, being described by some as a ploughed potato field, was bobbly and sticky to say the least which we knew would not assist our passing style of play. But by kick off, the girls had shaken off their bed heads and looked up for the fight.

The game started with Coton in the ascendency with plenty of possession but no real chances to test the Chesterton keeper, Ilazki and Pauline controlling the centre of the park, Indie and Emilia bombing down the flanks ably supported by Bam and Lia but, as seems to happen all too frequently in our matches, after 15 minutes of dominance, a breakaway by Chesterton's most dangerous weapon, Ella, saw her alone through on goal and smartly dinking the ball over the onrushing poorly Cha to open the scoring. 1-0 to the home side. Here we go again were the thoughts on the sideline. But this team never quits.
Another 10 minutes of probing without success, until the ball fell to Shannon 25 yards from goal and without thinking unleashed a thunderous shot high into the Chesterton net giving the keeper no chance at all. 5 minutes later, and almost a carbon copy, this time from Kate and 2-1 Coton. The sigh of relief was audible. We were on the front foot now with AJ and Tes confidently snuffing out any Chesterton chances, breaking into our half, starting wave after wave of lovely passing football on an oh-so-tricky pitch. Time for Alice, Lottie and Seyma to be introduced into the fray and they all slotted in seamlessly, keeping the momentum going. Alice marauding down the right. Lottie stylishly controlling the ball with some lovely short passing moves. Seyma, always reliable, always at pace, tackling anything that moved. Another great passing move saw us drive into the Chesterton area and the centre half lifting out an arm to stop a through ball. Penalty. Up stepped Kate and cooly slotted into the bottom left corner for 3-1 and half time.

After a "loud" pep talk from coach Darren, and more of the same requested, the 2nd half began as the first had ended with barnstorming runs down both flanks by Emilia, India, Alice and Bam in particular; the coaches loving the overlaps that come so naturally to Bam now. But it was India's driving run, beating 2 defenders and cooly slotting with her unfavored, but still magnificent, left foot that brought the next score. Lia, Tes, AJ, Seyma and Bam were never really troubled too much at the back but were always on the front foot to win tackles and make interceptions alongside playing some lovely confident passing along the backline. Our midfield had taken control of the game now and it was wave after wave of attacks. Kate was on hand to bring her well deserved hat-trick. Emilia was put through on goal and calmly slotted past the keeper to make it 6. An India corner found its way into the net…gotta claim those when they go in! Ball worked nicely across the box, but a nasty bobble meant Shannon could only swing at it, missing completely…did anyone else see that bobble Shannon?! 😅. But Alice, in on the act to make it 8, before finally the ball dropping nicely this time for Shannon to notch her 2nd. So 9-1 and the job was done.

There were stand out performances all over the pitch today with the whole team contributing to what was a very good performance, some very slick passing on a tricky pitch and the fact that Cha only touched the ball 3 times in the whole game shows the dominance of the performance. 3 massive games coming up: two against Cambridge City and a cup semi-final against Rushden, but if they play like that we should be fine. WELL DONE ALL!!!!!! 👍⚽️ ... See MoreSee Less

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