Although some of the squad had played together at Primary level this was essentially a different team and they opened the new season with a friendly against South Staffs. It was not surprising therefore that it would take both sets of players time to settle and the opening quarter of an hour was so scrappy that neither keeper was really called into action. As the game progressed, however, the Wolverhampton girls began to find their rhythm and there was a real shape and purpose about their play.They executed some intricate passing in triangles and from one such move Ruby Maclean met a tempting cross at the back post, to give us a 1-0 lead at the break.
This dominant, passing football, combined with tenacious battling in the midfield, continued into the second half and it seemed only a matter of time before we extended our lead but we lost concentration at a corner and our opponents levelled the score. It was totally against the run of play of course but that's football and shortly afterwards South Staffs even took the lead when a stray shot somehow found the back of the net with our keeper unsighted. For the first time in the match we looked rattled and despite increased pressure from our girls we entered the closing stages of the match getting more and more desperate as our opponents defence stood firm. With just five minutes left, however, a well-controlled ball fell to Skye Hines and with her back to goal, she turned,found space, and fired a stunning shot into the top corner from around 20 yards to give us a well deserved draw.Overall, it was a great start to the district season as the girls have already started to gel as a team, and we look forward to seeing their progress throughout the year.
Squad:Arrabella Woolley (Aldersley), Leilah O'Gorman, Simran Gill (Wolverhampton Girls),
Ruby Maclean, Shannay Nisbett (Our Lady & St Chads), Ava Mohammed (St Regis),
Holly Rose Morris (Coppice), Delilah Hard (St Edmunds), Skye Hines (Heath Park),
Beau Morris-Jones (OSWB Academy), Emilia Purshouse (Highfields).
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