Cramlington United v Bedlington Town Wildcats.

15 October 2011

Wildcats were back in league action today after last week's 13 - 0 cup victory against Alnwick. Because we were not in league action last week, we had slipped down the league to fourth place but with a game in hand over Ashington Angels who leapfrogged us last Saturday (up to date league table is at the end of this report); today's game took on more importance as Cramlington are one of the teams we need to beat if we are to maintain our push towards the top. We have never played against Cramlington United, nor had we played at their home ground so it was a day of firsts for our girls.

The day was warm, bright and sunny with a slight breeze blowing down the pitch. The sun might be a problem for the teams as it was low in the sky and was likely to get in the eyes when the girls were looking to control high balls coming at them.

There was a delayed start to the game as we had to wait for a previous game to end so that we could get the use of their goalposts, but this delay enabled us to get a full squad together again and as we were playing into the sun for the first half, and against the breeze Monty emphasized the need to concentrate hard and work for each other, to make full use of our speed of attack and to look for better placed team mates when attacking rather than take shots from narrow angles and through crowded areas of the pitch.

Bella was captain for the day and with Amy and Alice ready to join the game after ten or so minutes, Monty sent out the following team; Moley in goal with Ellie sweeping just behind Caz and George, Erin was centre midfield with Demi and Bella providing the width for Lauren and Mazie up front. The team has adapted well to this formation as it gives us a strong defensive line up, which allows the midfielders and forwards to get on with their jobs.

Cramlington elected to play with the breeze, so we had the sun in our eyes when defending and it was our opponents who had the first attempt at goal, but Moley was very quickly off her line to gather the ball at the edge of her box to cancel out the danger. We were a little slow to get started and the first few minutes of play were in our half of the pitch which was a bit unusual, but once we had our first shot at goal from Bella, we gradually got into our stride and started bossing the game. The tempo of the match quickened and Demi produced a good run and shot which was just wide. We were passing the ball better now and another Demi shot was very well saved by the Cramlington goalie, who was able to set up an attack with a long kick out of her hands but our defence stood solid and cleared the ball (two Cramlington forwards were offside in this attack but not flagged so we needed to be careful!)

Erin and Lauren combined well only to see Lauren's shot go just over the bar. We did open the scoring shortly afterwards however when the goalkeeper was unable to get to a Lauren centre and Demi was on hand to push the ball over the line. Wildcats were on their way!!!

We won the ball straight from the kick-off and were back on the attack and won another corner which the Cramlington 'keeper was able to gather well and her clearance led to a corner against us. It was good to see that every Wildcats player was back defending our goal and we were able to bring the ball clear through Demi and Mazie. We were definitely playing better now and we were having to defend only breakaway attacks, one of which resulted in a shot into our side netting, but Moley had it covered in any case. We needed to score again to give us that bit of comfort and it was Lauren who obliged after a Demi throw to Mazie who produced an excellent cross which was met by Lauren who scored to double our advantage.

While we were creating the better chances, we still needed to be careful of the Cramlington forwards and Ellie needed to be alert to stop an attack from a long clearance, but she was up to the job and the danger was over..

We were getting a lot of joy down each wing and we were expecting to get more goal scoring opportunities from this but our final ball was either being cleared or just out of reach of our forwards. This pressure would surely lead to more goals.

Mazie needed to leave the field when she tried to head the ball but connected with her nose instead (not the best option and very painful) and she was replaced by Amy.

It was at this point that Cramlington got back into the game when one of their forwards latched on to a goal kick by Moley and had a clear run at goal and scored to bring the score to 2 - 1. It was soon 3 - 1 however when Lauren produced a bit of ball juggling on the edge of the box and found the space she needed to shoot at goal and slot the ball past the goalkeeper to restore out two goal cushion.

We continued to play attacking football and a Bella shot which was just wide signalled the half time whistle with Wildcats in the lead by 3 - 1. and playing well with the advantage of the elements in the second half to look forward to.

Monty was happy with the way the game was going and rested Mazie and Erin, enabling Alice to slot into the forward line and otherwise leaving the team which ended the first half to start the second.

A good opening attack came to nothing and the ball was cleared up field for a Cramlington corner, this was cleared by Ellie for a second corner which was just too long for an oncoming Cramlington forward at the far post. We were soon back on the front foot however and further Wildcat pressure gained a corner which was cleared as far as Amy who was able to get a shot away but this was saved. Some end to end play saw another corner to Cramlington which was taken short but cleared. Alice fed Demi with a nice ball on her wing and she drew a foul and sent the resulting free kick just in front of Lauren who was inches (or should that be centimetres) away from converting. This narrow miss was made up for shortly afterwards however when Demi ran and her shot was not properly collected by the Cramlington goal keeper and the ball squirted out of her hands and into the net for goal number four.

Alice was almost through on goal but she was unable to run through a massed defence, but it was not long before goal number five was hit by Demi to complete yet another hat trick. She collected the ball on her wing and calmly lobbed the 'keeper who had no chance.

Moley was given little chance shortly afterwards however when Caz and Ellie left the ball for each other and it ran to a very grateful forward who scored without a lot of trouble. This was a pity because our defence had been pretty solid up to that point, so with the score at 5 - 2 we kicked off again looking to increase our lead again.

Lauren fought off the attentions of two defenders and crossed the ball looking for Alice only to see her effort deflected off the arm of a defender for what should have been a penalty if the referee had not been unsighted. Lauren did however get her reward when she was appeared to pass the ball but nobody went to collect it so she was able to run on to her own pass and shoot past the goalkeeper for number six. Cramlington did manage to pull another one back, and this time it was a good goal completing a hat trick for the scorer.

The temperature was rising now and legs were beginning to feel weary, especially Cramlington legs and an excellent flowing movement involving Demi, Lauren, Bella and Alice saw Alice clean through and she made no mistake with the chance to score a very well deserved goal to bring out tally to seven. Alice was replaced by Mazie who had now recovered from her 'nose ball' and it was not long before the eighth goal was claimed. A throw by George cut out a defender and found Bella on her wing and she was able to take the ball inside and get it through to Demi whose shot crept under the diving goalie and over the line.

We were still seeing some Cramlington attacking, and Moley was called into action to push a well struck shot over the bar for a corner; the ball was cleared and Bella saw her well hit shot equally well saved by the Cramlington goalkeeper diving to her left. Caz found Lauren with a good pass and Lauren got the ball to Demi who hit the post and away for a goal kick. Demi was not to be thwarted however as she took another pass down the wing from Caz and then saw her shot beat the keeper with Lauren on hand as back up in case defenders interfered.

Bella was rested and Lauren took over on the left wing with Erin slotting seamlessly into the position Lauren vacated, so there was no change of formation and we continued to hold the upper hand until the final whistle with the score at the finish being Cramlington United 3 Bedlington Town Wildcats 9.

We can take a lot of pride in what the girls achieved here; the defence was solid (with a couple of lapses!); midfield were hard working as ever and ensured that our opponents had to work very hard for any ball possession; our forwards were always likely to score. All of this with a desire to work for each other has made us a very difficult team to breakdown never mind beat. We are playing some excellent football and indeed a Cramlington Official mentioned that we were the best team they have played against this season in his opinion (I could not disagree!). Very well done girls and thank you for another enjoyable Wildcats Saturday.

Girl of the Game was awarded to Lauren and Manager's Girl of the Game was awarded to Mazie - well done to you both for a brilliant performance.

I think we can say that this was a very well deserved win against one of the better teams in the league and it now looks as if five teams are breaking away at the top and we were due to play two of these five in the next two games, but next weeks match against Fenham and Montagu Jaguars has already been cancelled, so let us now look forward to the game against Ashington Angels in two weeks time