u12 11-a-side

Sheffield 1 – Crosspool 2
Both teams had 11 players, just the right amount, some might say; I would prefer to start with a couple of spares and counting the players on the pitch became a feature of the game.
The teams were evenly matched, every ball was fought over and it took ingenuity to scrape the ball out of pockets of feet.
About 20 minutes into the first half, Yaz broke free from the pack and the keeper came out to block her off, she did her usual ‘ball one way – Yaz the other’ and was past the keeper with an open goal just yards away, she scored.
Crosspool had a few more chances in the first half which SU had managed to cut off with some desperate hacking in the box. Bex wasn’t troubled too much; Cari, Ellie and Sally did a fab job of clearing the ball or playing the off-side trap; when the ball did come to her, she took it confidently and fed it out to get Crosspool back on the attack. One scramble in the box saw the ball bounce up and hit Rebecca on the arm, a few minutes later (I know it's a difficult job) the ref decided that handball had occurred in the box and gave a penalty. We all held our breath, Bex got herself ready and went for the ball but it was high and hit the crossbar, there was a scramble to clear it and then it was back down the other end. The score stayed 1-0 ‘till half-time.
A bit uncomfortable for us; very uncomfortable for them.
Crosspool’s second goal came soon into the second half, from a lovely set of passes, mid-field through to Yaz, she outran a defender and went for goal, just as another defender was closing her down, she looked up and passed wide to Hannah; a couple of touches and GOAL!!!!
By now the SU girls and supporters were a bit fed-up. Cari cleared the ball down the line and then had her legs taken out from under her, she got up and stood indignantly, hands on hips, shouting ‘foul’ at the ref; luckily he agreed with her and the free kick was given.
SU snuck a goal, not sure how and then the battle really broke out. Both sets of girls were also brushing off injures to stay on the pitch if at all possible, a SU player got a ball in the face at close quarters, but she refused to leave the pitch, Sally made a tackle which stopped a SU attacker in full flow, unfortunately the player stood on her ankle and she had to come off. She went back on a few minutes later, brave girl.
I think it was 15 or 20 minutes from the end…. but they were up to the challenge and had several more chances, looking more likely to score again than united. A great match to watch with skilfull play and hard work on both sides.