I was really interested in this game despite it being a friendly match for a couple of reasons. This season we’d signed Carla Williams and Suze Wylie, both of whom had played for the Acton the previous season.
Before the match, that posed many questions to me. How did the departure of these two players affect this team and were their players in general on a similar level to them? It was a chance to try and understand what the experience has been like for them and I got some answers early doors.
Both teams had nicely laid out warm-up routines before the match, although their coaches and even their players were not in training kit. In fact, some of their players warmed up in random jackets not designed for sports. I found that really odd and it brought home just how good our lot look when they’re dressed from head to toe in proper gear and I was sure from the outset that it gave us an intimidating presence.
I couldn’t imagine Carla or Suze running around like that, and although it’s a small detail and irrelevant physically, sometimes it’s as much about mental preparation and there’s something really inspiring and focusing when it looks and feels proper.
I thought we played pretty well considering some of the players had not had a match for several weeks thanks to all the postponements due to the weather. We scored almost immediately through Amy Murphy and it was pretty much one-way traffic for the majority of the game but was still a good work out. We looked fitter, sharper and crisper than Acton and the gulf in class at times was huge in terms of our movement on and off the ball and our general team play.
The opposition could not live with us when we passed and moved the ball either and there was a little bit of a feeling that we could have done that a bit more and at a higher tempo and really tease them into submission, but equally you can’t complain if your team seize on the opportunities that present themselves and go for them. We were a little direct and gung-ho at times as we fashioned out chances, but I thought we exploited them very well.
We were obviously a few steps above Acton but they’re not a bad side. They had some nice concepts and ideas, but they couldn’t live with the quality of our players and I did wonder whether Carla and Suze were always as good as they are now, or whether they have progressed and found a new level since joining. Having seen them since pre-season my instinct says it’s the latter, particularly with Suze who has made significant progress from game to game and up until now, and in my mind, is the most improved player at the club since I got involved. Carla had gone through a little dry patch recently but she clocked up three goals and that will have done her the world of good and Acton clearly miss her presence up front.
We tried stressing to the players the importance of trying new ideas and concepts on the pitch, particularly in matches like these where there’s an opportunity to experiment intelligently and practice what we preach in training. But it’s not easy to do actually and explaining that as coaches or understanding that as players and as a team sometimes comes after a period of reflection, especially if you’re already 6:0 up at half time.
The one bit of advice I would give the players, and any player, regardless of what happens in a match or who you are up against, if you want to be a winner and improve, then you must remain focused at all times. Focus is what gives you the right mentality to succeed and sometimes in the match, because we had it won early, we lost that focus and some of the players were chit-chatting and having banter on the pitch with one another when they should have tried concentrating on keeping themselves in the zone and playing their game.
For me, it’s that psychology rather than the concepts we teach that wins you games at any level. It’s also a little bit to do wth respect and wanting to carry out the job professionally, which is harder to do against inferior opposition. But that’s where practice makes perfect and it’s in these games where your team develops the mettle to go that extra yard when it really matters.
If we can do that in these scenarios, we will find the consistency and drive to be successful, not just week in, week out, but season after season and that’s what success is all about. It’s not a short-term thing and it’s not even about winning the league or promotion, it’s about consistent continuous progress all the time.
Our players must try to understand that against top class opposition, there’s no way they’d get themselves out of their zone for any point in the 90 minutes, because they can’t afford to and that’s what they’ve got to try and replicate for whoever they come up against.
In this match, when we were focused we took the other team apart, but what struck me as unusual was Acton had as many players out of the zone and yapping away as we did, and they most certainly couldn’t afford to do that against us with the quality we have.
Perhaps we’d already beaten them out of it at the warm up stage.
Team: Jess Devoti, Nikki Crump, Ceryl Guard, Tammy, Susannah Abbott, Amy Murphy, Hannah Curnow, Suze Wylie, Camilla Ray, Carla Williams, Cherelle Albert
Subs: Kelley Bloomqvist
Goals: Murphy 3, Williams 3, Albert 4, Abbott, Tammy, Wylie
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