Maidenhead Ladies 5s 0 - 1 South Bucks 1st XII

Despite having only 11 players it was a close call game and although we had most of the possession they managed to score. It was a shame, but I am immensely proud of how we played.

We started strong, keeping our formation and really putting the pressure on. We had a couple of early runs up from the wings from both Emily and Amy taking it all the way in to the D. But their strong back line held us back, as my dramatic tumble from a shove showed! Every time it got in to our defensive half one of our defenders picked it up and swiftly passed it back up the pitch. The link up between Ali, TJ and Amy was brilliant. We really kept the ball out on our wings, making the ball do the work. Catrin got in some great spaces and really had her work cut out getting around the twins. Pippa and Sophie were like a duo passing the ball between themselves and then out to the wing. TJ picked up one of these balls and using great skills dodged passed 2 players to take the ball in to the D and have a shot on goal. This hit one of the oppositions shin pads, the umpire played advantage and TJ had another go. It looked a dead cert to go in, only to rebound off the post!

Half time gave us a chance to have a break, dry off a little and patch ourselves up from the hits we took.

South Bucks gradually put the pressure on in the second half and our defenders came in to their own. Ali was like the wall of China in the back, stopping ball after ball. Jess made some brilliant tackles driving the ball all the way back to the attacking D. But once again we just couldn't seem to get it in the back of the net, despite myself, Amy, Emily and Catrin all having attempts on goal.
We had 3 attacking short corners, Sophie got the hang of push-ins but let's just say this is an area we need to work on! We also had 3 defensive short corners and it was great to see Maddie and her defenders coming out time and again to clear the ball. None of us could tell that this was Maddies 1st Ladies match. She was ready to take on the opposition attackers, midfielders and even their umpire! A great game for her. Meanwhile Helen was have a good game too, with some lovley tackles and defensive girls against much younger girls.
Toward the end we all began to time and South Bucks took advantage and managed to slip one into the D and in the mass of legs and sticks to score.