Last Sunday the first-team lost their first league game of the season away to promotion rivals Plymouth. Therefore, it was important to bounce back and we were looking for a response from our team.
Reading were unfortunately on the receiving end of that response as we ran riot. The players flew out of the blocks and raced away into a six-goal lead within 35 minutes or so.
We mixed up our play relatively well and were direct or got the ball on the deck and built up the play when we needed to. What I liked was how we showed two sides of our character. When we did knock the ball around on the floor we relied on our quality and carved them wide open, but we did an equally good job of going direct and pressing and harrying Reading into making mistakes before taking full advantage as well.
The challenge for the team was to bounce back from last week and win convincingly and they did that with aplomb. We played pretty well but the most pleasing aspect was the type of goals we scored. There was a range of different finishes from technical dinks, long range drives, clever slots and rounding the keeper as well as some individual and team created goals.
I felt sorry for Reading though. They’re just a young side with a really honest group of players. I don’t think I’ve seen a side so willing to keep battling for the cause and not let their heads drop despite the score. They were a credit to themselves in that sense and I came away with a lot of admiration and respect for them.
Yes we could have won this game by more. We had a couple of goals disallowed over some debatable offside decisions, hit the woodwork a couple of times and the Reading keeper made numerous outstanding saves. But that didn’t really matter because it was a job well done and we got what we wanted from the match, which was a response from our team and three points on the board.
Over the past weeks there have been some games where we’ve taken our foot off the gas a little after clearly wrapping the points up early on. But you couldn’t say that about us here and I was pleased with the focus the players showed and they had a purpose and intent about them to go about their business and do as much damage as possible.
Sure, sometimes we rushed our play just a little bit, but that can happen when you’re so dominant and on top and we’ve got the skills and maturity to put our foot on the ball when the time is right and we were still very clinical overall. We never looked nervous or anxious either, which shows good character because that can happen after any defeat and I was pleased by the concentration levels shown and our desire to work hard, roll up our sleeves and get on with the job at hand.
There are just three games to go now and our destiny is in our own hands. If we win all of our matches then we will win this league and we are more than capable of achieving that, starting on Sunday with a tough fixture against Team Bath and we’re relishing the challenge with open arms. It’s what we’re here for, so bring it on.
Team: Jess Devoti, Nikki Crump (Caroline Barker), Simone Dwyer, Mel Bidewell (Ceryl Guard), Susannah Abbott, Amy Murphy, Tammy Scrivens, Suze Wylie (Camilla Ray), Leigh Holes, Seun Odeniyi, Cherrelle Albert
Subs: Ceryl Guard, Caroline Barker, Camilla Ray, Carla Williams, Emily Cure
Goals: Albert 6, Odeniyi 4, Leigh Holes, Abbott, Murphy
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