The Primary girls began the 2nd half of The Spring League competition in poll position but just missed out on the medals at the end of the evening by eventually finishing third. It wasn't through lack of effort or passion but with every match being so close in the Premier division they needed that little bit of luck to come their way and on the night I'm afraid nothing seemed to run for us. Indeed the pattern was set as early as the opening game when a great 20 yard effort from Megan was controversially ruled out against South Staffs even though the ball had clearly crossed the line after it came back off the woodwork. The match eventually finished goalless and even though we defeated Walsall by the only goal the girls were never able to claw back those dropped points. Nevertheless, the performance against Walsall was our finest of the evening and we were able to exert so much pressure that it was mainly played in our opponents half. Shayla flicked the ball into the back of the net, after a tremendous long throw into the box by Alarna to decide the contest, but despite two other 20 yard shots and a freekick from Megan which kept the Walsall keeper on her toes, we were unable to add to our total. Indeed if Amber and Alarna hadn't have been so alert we may even have allowed Walsall back into the game on the odd occasion that they were able to hit us on the break.
Despite playing well in both of our opening games we only had four points and it was essential that we got something against old rivals North Shropshire if we were to stay in contention and conceding two early goals did nothing to help our cause.Two great saves by Poppy started the Wolves fight back, however, and from that point onwards both teams really raised their level. We gave as good as we got and reduced the arrears when a North Shropshire attack was stopped by a crunching challenge by Amber allowing the ball to break to Megan. In a flash she turned and found Layla who drilled the ball past the keeper despite being under immense pressure. A wonderful goal. Clara went on to make some great runs and a 30 yard shot from Alarna ,which seemed goal bound,was scrambled away at the death but that elusive second goal evaded us and our hopes of winning the title were over. Time and time again this season our inability to convert chances has proved to be our achilles heel and this was again beautifully illustrated in our final encounter of the evening against Erdington which finished 0-0 despite Megan, Shayla, Clara and Layla all having opportunities. The longer the game goes on without us finding the net invariably gives our opponents confidence of course and despite being camped in their own half for most of the match Erdington would have stolen the game if Poppy hadn't made two great saves. The second in particular was first rate and in the closing seconds Erdington were clean through before a gritty challenge by Alarna saved the day.
Squad : Poppy, Shayla, Megan, Alarna, Layla, Amber, and Clara.
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