The Under 10' first match of this term was held at Cundall Manor and was a fairly even standard of game. Our girls played well in pockets of the match, but allowed Cundall too much room at the back making for easy getaways.
The girls won the toss and elected to have first push, starting off with a great pace and some very accurate passing. Amelia Blackburn was very strong at centre forward, having some lovely runs, but the wings weren't utilised to their proper extent and the ball got bogged down in the middle... literally. Good tackles and interceptions were had by both teams, but Cundall managed to make the most of these and scored. Amy performed well in defence and with a little more confidence and speed will become even more effective in defence. The girls continued to fight for the ball, but struggled to maintain backup tackles leading to a further two goals in the first half. Coco was moved from the midfield to the attacking line and had some very good passages of play partnering Amelia well on the left which led to some excellent passing play in their attacking half and Amelia was inches of scoring a cracking goal. Unfortunately, the halftime whistle blew and we were 3-0 down.
The second half saw an improvement in the team game and we had lots more posession in Cundall's defensive half resulting in 5 short corners, Coco taking some great shots and Emma fought hard to keep the ball in the D. The girls were unlucky not to score as they had some fantastic opportunities that they just missed. Anna captained the side well and was determined in the midfield along with Georgina and Lucy who made some really good interceptions and passes. Alas, it wasn't to be the Under 10's day and Cundall secured another 2 runaway goals despite the valliant efforts of Maddy and Amy in defence.
Overall they were just not consistent enough and Cundall took better advantage of their opportunities, winning 5-0. To the girls' credit, the didn't give up and there were lots of good pieces of hockey that they can take into their next match.
M Pilmore and J Tanner
