Wallsend Boys Club Girls v Bedlington Town Wildcats

26 November 2011

It could be argued that there is nothing better than a trip along the Coast Road to watch the Wildcats play on a sunny, if windy Saturday. Wallsend were the first team we played at The Hartlands way back in September on a day when it was blowing a gale, and we put eleven goals past them without reply, but they have won three games since that date and scored twenty goals, so it might not be so easy this time. The game also marks the half way point in the season, it being our tenth game of the twenty game league schedule.

Alice was not available for the game, but the rest of the girls were ready and willing to play in whatever position Monty decided, but as usual he did not disrupt the formation at the start of the game, leaving his options open should we build up a good lead.

There was a bit of a breeze and a firm surface to play on as Caz was first to be left on the sideline as the following team took the pitch; Moley was between the sticks with Ellie and George at the back and Erin in front of them. Midfield comprised Demi, Mazie and Bella with Amy and Lauren up front.

The referee's whistle got us away and we were straight on the attack, winning a very early corner and then Lauren was in on goal only to see her shot well saved by the Wallsend 'keeper who rushed off her line to block the shot at the expense of a corner. Amy was the next Wildcat to try her luck and her long distance shot was seen late by the goalie but she was able to get the ball away for yet another corner, then a second before we got the reward our pressure deserved when Demi opened the scoring.

We were pressing hard to increase our lead and another Demi shot was pushed away for a corner from which Lauren shot over the bar. Erin collected a goal kick and fed in Lauren again but her shot was marginally wide and it struck the post before going out of play.

All of the play was in the Wallsend defensive third at this stage and we were therefore enjoying the vast majority of possession; it seemed as though it would only be a short time before this pressure turned itself into goals but Wallsend mounted their first attack which was confidently cleared by Ellie who set up another right wing attack which saw the ball fed across the pitch to Bella on the left allowing her a sight of goal without being able to make the most of it. Demi was then just wide from the other wing before starting an excellent passing movement which saw the ball at the feet of Lauren to hit goal number two with a well placed shot wide of the goal keeper.

Wildcats were much faster and more powerful than their opponents at this point and with a bit more accuracy with the final ball, we should be able to make the game safe well before half time if this could be maintained; maintained it was as Lauren hit the back of the net again to make it three and then Amy pounced on a palmed away Erin shot to increase the score further. Lauren then hit her third and fourth goals, both in off the post, to put the game well out of reach of Wallsend. It was at this point that Monty decided to change the line-up when Caz was brought on in place of Amy and in to centre midfield. George was pushed forward to the left wing with Bella moving to left back. Mazie dropped to right back to allow Ellie to move forward.

The changed formation resulted in a bit of a loss of momentum and Wallsend were awarded their first corner of the game and it was good to see all the Wildcat players except Erin were back defending our goal and we were able to cope with the situation quite comfortably. This offensive play from Wallsend left their defenders a bit exposed to a breakaway; Lauren got the better of the defenders and ran on goal to see her final pass only just out of reach of Erin who was doing her best to make up the ground and get on to the score sheet herself.

More Wallsend attacking saw a shot sent wide from a corner before another was well collected by Moley and cleared up field.

The half time whistle blew to end a very good period for the Wildcats who were leading by six goals to nil. It is fair to say that Wallsend came into the game a bit towards the end of the half following the positional changes we made after the game was safe, but we did not look as though we were in any great difficulty and we were well worth the scoreline.

The second half started with Erin taking over in goal from Moley and the rest of the team continuing the formation from the end of the first period. We started the half with a very good passing movement and Lauren hit the back of the net again, only to have the score wiped out for off side just before she was substituted by Amy. Amy did not take long to make her presence felt when she collected a cross field pass before stroking the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper for her second goal of the game and the Wildcats seventh.

A passing movement involving Demi, Amy and George played Moley in on goal but her well hit shot was equally well saved to end an exciting passage of play. The ball was then played up field by Wallsend and Erin was called upon to field a speculative forward ball and in clearing, her boot flew off and the ball skewed to a Wallsend forward who was able to shoot; Erin however made up a lot of ground and flung herself to her right to push the ball away for a corner before being able to collect the missing boot.

Lauren replaced George and it was business as usual when Demi collected the ball and easily ran through the defenders and then picked her spot to take the goal tally to eight.

We continued to spend most of the game close to the Wallsend goal line with only the occasional Wallsend attack to cope with for our defenders. Moley collected the ball from a throw and saw her shot well saved, Caz saw a shot saved and we were caught off side four times in quick succession in our efforts to increase our lead further. This was not to be however as the game was brought to an end with the score a comfortable eight nil victory for the Wildcats.

There is no doubt that we could have scored many more goals if we had stuck with our players in their best positions, but once again we proved that we are able to at least match most of the teams in the league no matter what formation we play. This ability will serve us well in future matches, but only after we get the next few games against stronger opposition over the December and January period.

Wallsend gave their girl of the game award to Erin ('the girl who lost her boot' was their description) and Monty chose Mazie for his award..

The usual candidates all won again this week (with a 6 - 0 score line) and this leaves us in third place with that important game in hand over North Shields who are on the same number of points. Next weeks fixtures are all cup games and we have a game against Montagu and North Fenham Jaguars at home before meeting the same girls again on the same ground the following week in the league. The final game before Christmas is away to Montagu and North Fenham Pumas and it will be interesting to take stock of our position at that time.

Thanks again ladies for another excellent Wildcats win. Each one of you can be pleased with your commitment and work rate, not to mention a great deal of skill.

League Table as at 26 November 2011