The past few weeks have seen several matches postponed due to bad weather which has somewhat stalled the momentum the QPR Ladies have generated this season.
It was important therefore last Sunday to try and get some minutes under our belts ahead of the Christmas period as we’re back to league action against Bournemouth on the 4th of January and we need to be ready for it.
Denham, who top their league in the division below provided an ideal opportunity and test for our players in a friendly match at theirs on a sticky pitch with windy conditions.
Due to the personnel available, we experimented a little with our formation but it didn’t quite work and in fact, we were poor overall for the first 45 minutes and lacked intelligence with our play as we struggled to deal with the conditions.
Both teams missed a glorious chance apiece before Denham finally took the lead from a wide free-kick that sailed into the net after a bit of a mix-up between Nikki Crump and Jess Devoti at the back, resulting in Nikki unfortunately heading into her own net.
Despite this, we managed to equalise through Amy Murhpy whose terrific drive after being teed up by Allana Ashmeil went in off both posts. Allana had not long been on the pitch having come on for Caroline Barker who picked up a calf strain early on and it was a deserved opportunity for her having hit the net 18 times already this season for the Reserves.
But that was about as good as it got for us in the first-half. We were somewhat ragged and prone to hitting long aimless balls forward which surprised us a little bit. We also suffered from dallying on the ball too much and over playing, with many of our players spending too long in possession of the ball or dribbling with it unnecessarily against the wind.
At half-time we spoke to them at some length about the quality of their play and the intelligence required to pass and move it more quickly and with purpose. We expected them to go out and put on a much better showing in the second period and we also switched the formation back to a more traditional 4-4-2 and the response in the second 45 was much more positive.
I thought Seun Odeniyi controlled the game from the middle of the park and put in a performance that was a cut above the rest of the players on the day. Her swiftness on the ball and the manner she dictated the tempo and the play was the springboard for us to push on and gain control the match in important areas of the pitch. It was a top performance and gave us a platform to go on and win convincingly and we added four more quality goals in addition to Amy’s strike in the first-half.
Danielle Clare Richards scored with a crisp low drive from outside of the box to make it 2-1, then Cherelle Albert finished tidily for 3-1 before Seun made it 4-1 with a cool and deserved strike before finally, Susannah Abbott saved the best till last with a rasping 30 yard drive to make it 5-1.
We got there in the end and came away very pleased with the way we performed in the second-half. It wasn’t our best, but we got progressively better as the game wore on and our quality increased with each passing minute. It was an important 90 minutes, make no mistake about it and I feel much more content having seen them play in this friendly than not, even had we not put in a strong performance in the second-half.
You learn in situations like these just how important friendly matches are and can be for the cause. I was also delighted for Chloe Julien, who this season, has had to cover in goal for the reserves due to injuries. She’s not had as much outfield playing time for them as she probably would have liked, but constantly shows a great attitude and wanted to come and watch the first-team play in this match. Her reward was was getting plenty of time on the pitch with the first-team and she’s very much deserved that.
Team: Jess Devoti, Simone Dwyer, Caroline Barker, Nikki Crump, Tammy, Seun Odeniyi, Amy Murphy, Susannah Abott, Danielle Clare Richards, Carla Williams, Cherelle Albert
Subs: Chloe Julien and Allana Ashmeil
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