Sunday the 5th of September marked the day of U10s first ever football match. After what seemed like a bumpy start with Ashton FC Girls securing 2 goals within the first 5 minutes, the girls didn’t let it get them down and carried on with the same excited and confident attitude. Our temporary goalkeepers of the first half (Zoe then Eleanor) stayed calm and collected, not letting anymore goals into the back of the net. Backed up by our strong defence, Susie and Leah, not letting the ball stay in our box for very long and clearing it perfectly for our counter attacks. With Isla, Zoe and Poppy in midfield and Sophie upfront, our attacking play came in full force. This very quickly lead to Zoe scoring our first ever goal as the first half was drawing to a close, followed closely by Sophie scoring our second goal right before the half time whistle. Leaving the score as 2-2 at half time.
Half time consisted of a change in goalkeeper, with Leah next to face the role. Rosie dropped from midfield to defence, but she took it fully in her stride, with not a single ball getting past either her or Eleanor in defence. Susie, Bonnie and Zoe were in midfield, passing the ball confidently around the other team, this lead to our 3rd goal of the match being scored by Zoe. And what a wonderful goal it was, with Zoe taking the ball at the halfway line and dribbling round all of their players to then finish it with the ball in the back of the net. A quick change of goalkeeper saw Susie in goal for the last 10 minutes of the game and a substitution bringing Evie onto the pitch upfront. Unfortunately, Evie scored a wonder goal whilst our keepers were swapping over due to the other team taking an early throw-in. The beautiful volley from the halfway line was, however, disallowed (but don’t worry, we will still put it in the running for goal of the season). Not to worry though, this disallowed goal was then shortly followed by a powerful shot from the edge of the box by Poppy, resulting in the ball hitting the back of the net in the bottom corner. Despite strong defending being shown by Sophie and Rosie, and Susie making some incredible saves in goal, Ashton FC Girls were able to secure another goal and then a penalty due to an accidental handball in our box. When the ref blew the full time whistle the score stood at 4-4.
A fantastic performance by all of the girls, putting in all there effort, but a special shout out to Zoe (for her amazing dribbling and shooting in midfield) and Susie (for her incredible saves in goal, as well as brilliant defending and attacking when not in goal) who were given Star Players of the match.
Written by Ellie Haines (U10s coach).
