I’m particularly pleased with how the players are responding to the information we are giving them at the moment. If something isn’t quite working the way we think it should be, they’re taking our feedback on board and trying to work it out on the pitch. Once we worked out what we needed to do here we took control of the match and swung the game totally in our favour and put in a really excellent performance in the second half.
We had a few players missing for this game and as it was the cup and for the Plate, we decided to try something different both in terms of our starting formation and putting one or two players in unfamiliar positions.
I told the players before kick-off that we had the trust in them to give it a go and have a bit of fun at the same time. It was a chance for us to experiment, but I told them we still expected they had the quality to go on and win the game.
The pitch was really boggy too and had any more rain fallen it would have made it unplayable, so I told the players that the one thing we didn’t want them to do was dally on the ball or start dribbling with it through the bog. It was a mistake that we ended up making quite a bit in the first half though and that caused us problems both in defence and attack.
Still, we went 2:0 up thanks to an own goal from a corner routine that Anthony has been working on and has been working a real treat for us and Allana Ashmeil doubled our lead at the second attempt after being put through by Chloe Julien.
But, despite the lead both teams were guilty of missing chances and the ones we presented to Marlborough were our own undoing. We got ourselves into trouble too often and really only had ourselves to blame because we made a lot of elementary mistakes in terms of not getting a grip of the conditions or adapting to the sticky pitch. The ball was getting caught up and stuck in the midfield and players were dribbling or turning on the ball and losing possession in key areas and that eventually led to Marlborough scoring to make it 2:1.
We made it too easy for them and were thankful on many occasions to Anita Afonso for some great last ditch tackles and Sylvia Williams for some great saves. Having said that, we still got stuck in okay and there were plenty of good individual performances around the pitch and had we taken our chances, we could have been out of sight too. I thought we were marginally the better team in all departments, but we were playing a dangerous game and making it much more of a close battle than we wanted. All it needed was a bit more care, intelligence and composure. When we got the ball in forward positions, we weren’t releasing it quickly enough as the players were often taking one touch too many or just getting caught up in the mud and not anticipating what might go wrong.
There was no need to rant or rave at half time however. We got them in, settled them down and explained what we wanted them to do in the second period. We changed our shape a little and moved some players around and that helped give us the platform to dominate and adapt to the conditions in a way that would play to our strengths and nullify theirs.
We moved both Jade Creighton and Jade Bowley into defence where we felt their ability on the ball in those areas would actually allow us to spread possession and play earlier into the areas we felt would exploit Marlborough and it worked a treat. Anita moved into the midfield where her finesse and box-to-box running would allow us some additional defensive and attacking support and she popped up with a great goal from just inside the box early on for 3:1 and that settled us down.
Kesleigh Danielle Long then made it 4:1 with a superb goal in what was the move of the match. We won the ball at the back and countered quickly, spraying the ball out wide on the left and then three or four passes later we’d switched it from one side of the box to the other with Kesleigh arriving on cue to despatch into the bottom right corner with a low drive. It was a marvellous team goal.
Jade Bowley then missed a penalty but atoned for it shortly after with a superb individual strike from around 30 yards out which flew into the top corner and then Marlborough scored another unfortunate own goal as we pressed for more to make it 6:1.
Despite pulling away we never stopped working as a team in that second half. We looked so hungry to play well, both in defence and attack and proved that when we do, we are a real handful for any team at this level. It was one way traffic for most of it and I was so pleased by the way the players got their heads down and kept playing their football. We concentrated on keeping it simple, getting it down, setting it to certain players and releasing our wingers or strikers into the channels and then supporting them appropriately. There was also a real desire to defend as a unit too when it was required.
I’ve been saying it for weeks now, but the team is making progress and growing stronger week by week and it’s being reflected in both performances and results at the moment. I was impressed by how they adapted and eventually worked out the boggy conditions because once they did, they made life much easier for themselves. This type of match was an important part of their progress too because it was a game they will have learned from and that will stand us in good stead in the future.
Kesleigh’s performance, particularly in the second half, was outstanding and I thought Scarlett Hanharan and Jade Bowley both played their best games that I’ve seen too. Anita was excellent both in defence and midfield and Alex Lupano and Jade Creighton did very good jobs at the back and kept great discipline, which was vital and didn’t go unnoticed either. Natalie Worster also got a good 90 minutes under her belt and showed good tenacity out there when we needed it.
Overall, we’re very pleased with the recent performances and enjoying how the team are going after the opposition and getting about them. They’re showing great desire right now, but they’ve got to keep producing this on a weekly basis and for longer periods within matches to keep themselves progressing in the right direction.
Despite the score, I liked Marlborough. They are a friendly club and something tells me that they may cause one or two teams a few problems in the league too. With a bit more care about their finishing they can cause other sides plenty of problems.
Team: Sylvia Williams, Steph Lupano, Anita Afonso, Alex Lupano, Jade Bowley, Jade Creighton, Natalie Worster, Scarlett Hanharan, Kesleigh Danielle Long, Chloe Julien (Melanie Randall) and Allana Ashmeil.
Subs: Melanie Randall
Goals: Ashmeil, Afonso, Danielle Long, Bowley & 2 own goals.
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