Crosspool u10s versus Manchester City

Manchester City U10s 3 Crosspool JFC U10s 2

Crosspool JFC Girls Under 10s continued their preparations for their forthcoming Cup Final against Worksop Girls with a trip to Manchester to take on Manchester City Ladies’ Under 10s side. The game was agreed to be played in three 20 minute spells.

The City girls, like the Crosspool girls, are at the top of their own league, unbeaten and 3 points clear with a few games left to play, and have just won the Manchester 2008 Easter Tournament without conceding a goal, so we knew we were going to face a stern test. So it proved, as the match kicked off with Crosspool a little off the pace and the Manchester girls threatening to roll over us, with pace, power and technical ability throughout the side, combined with a fierce competitiveness. Some strong tackles from Ayesha Khan and Laura Ridal at the back and a couple of great saves by Crosspool’s Under 9s keeper Sophie Tomlinson (on loan for the evening to cover for the unavailability of the Under 10s’ regular keepers) steadied Crosspool’s nerves and allowed the midfield to start to win some possession and work the ball forward themselves.

The game was by no means one way traffic, although City had more of the possession and more shots. Nevertheless, it was Crosspool who took the lead in the second period through a good attacking move.

The City players were a handful in every department, and all the Crosspool players really had to step up a gear from what they have been used to in their own league. None of the players played badly, but several performed exceptionally well. Ayesha Khan was one who really answered the challenge laid down by City. An absolute warrior in defence and at the back of the midfield, she tackled bravely, distributed the ball well, and on several occasions made excellent recovery runs half the length of the pitch to shut down a break by the City girls. Well done, Ayesha! The rest of the Crosspool defence also stepped up to the mark, with captain Laura Ridal the usual rock at the back, frequently tackling girls twice her size with excellent timing, and Sophie Tomlinson in goal facing up bravely and competently to some intimidatingly powerful attacks. Eve Sharman in the centre of the pitch played excellently, and for a lot of the time kept City’s main threat under control. Eve was also a threat herself on the attack, linking up well with the wide players and with forward India Thompson-Carr. The wide players (Caty Murray, Lucy Cousins, Lucia Wood-Bonelli and Ellie Bird) all played well too, facing the toughest of combinations – pace, power and skill. Ellie in particular was very combative and played perhaps her best game yet for Crosspool. Up front, India faced for the first time defenders who could match her pace and also put in strong well-timed tackles. Nevertheless, India was always a threat and combined well with Eve especially to work paths through the Manchester defence. The City defence were fantastic, and it is hugely to the Crosspool attackers’ credit that they were able not only to score two goals but also to stretch them repeatedly, although in the end the sky blues’ defence was mostly up to the task. I firmly believe they knew they’d been in a serious contest by the end, though!

The opening goal came from quick Crosspool passing in the City goal-mouth, which saw India playing the ball to Caty, who dummied the ball through to Eve. Eve took the ball round the City keeper and stabbed it home.

Manchester City equalised late in the second period through their captain, a girl who was a constant threat while ever she was on the pitch not just because of her size and strength (she was probably twice the size of most of our girls) but also because of her technical ability and will to win.

A 1-1 result after two periods would have been a result to be proud of for Crosspool, but there was a third period to be played and unfortunately as Crosspool tired the City captain broke through twice more. At 3-1 behind, it looked again as though the floodgates might open, but India had other ideas. A corner was taken short by Ellie to Eve, who beat her marker and put in a strong cross, which was met by India with a cleanly taken volley into the City goal that brought the score to 3-2 and a respectable result for all. Player of the Match for Crosspool was a difficult decision, as all the Crosspool players had to play above themselves, and all played well. Overall, though, Ayesha’s contribution and attitude of absolute determination to compete for the team was second to none, and she gets the award this time.

Our thanks go to the Manchester City parents and manager for a warm welcome and an excellent game of football, and also to the referee provided by the home side, who was great.

Team: Sophie Tomlinson, Laura Ridal (captain), Ayesha Khan, Eve Sharman, India Thompson-Carr, Ellie Bird, Lucy Cousins, Lucia Wood-Bonelli, Caty Murray

Girls on Tour

You put your left foot in...


Two u12 girls teams went to Holland over the Easter Weekend, photos are availble on photobox, e-mail steph for the link.
The girls were playing in an under 13 tournament and came a creditable 8th and 16th, against some much bigger girls.