Back in 2003 I missed the chance to see QPR take on Cardiff in the Play Off Final and I still have a deep regret about that even though we lost. I was living and working in Germany at the time and I actually had a ticket to that game at the Millennium Stadium, but circumstances meant I would not be able to make it back in time.
I always felt I might live to regret that for the rest of my life and wondered if I’d ever get the opportunity to see my team in a final of some sorts again. Well, as it turns out, I may just be a lucky boy after all.
The QPR Ladies Reserves side came up against a Denham team from the division above in the Semi Final of the Plate having already lost to them earlier in the season in another competition. That day we got beat 10:0 although to be fair we only had 10 players on that occasion and we’ve come an awful long way since then and proved that on the pitch when it mattered.
I really liked our shape throughout the match and how hard we worked at not only maintaining our shape but also defending as a unit. The defence and midfield did a terrific job of getting back into position early to avert danger and the wide players worked as hard going backwards as I’ve seen all season.
Denham are a good team and are as strong as some of the best sides we’ve come up against all season. They had a few players who were technically very competent and had a nice balance about them, so beating them here was an excellent scalp for us and proves that we’re a match for most sides at this level.
We put in an awful lot of work in the first 60 minutes and although we did tire quite a bit in the latter stages, we’d already done the damage we needed to by then with three excellent goals.
Scarlett Hanrahan opened the scoring in the first-half with an opportunist strike from around 35 yards after the Denham keeper didn’t get enough on her clearance. It was a goal that was out of this world really and for someone who was having nightmares about this game the night before, this really would have been beyond her wildest dreams! She gambled by taking a touch and shooting instantly which was the right decision and sometimes in football you make your own luck. The ball sailed over the keeper and smacked off the far post before bouncing back over her head and across the goal before nestling into the bottom corner of the net. Remarkable!
The goal helped elevate Scarlett’s game to another level too and she put in a top performance in midfield, full of effort and determination and she tracked back and covered her defence better than I can recall at any point in the season.
We doubled our lead before the break with another well taken goal. This time Anita Afonso broke from the midfield and was lining up a strike on the edge of the box before slotting in Danielle Clare Richards on the right, who still seemed to have a lot to do, but she drilled in a cracking strike at the near post and beat the keeper with a tidy finish for 2:0, which was a deserved lead in my eyes.
I told the players at half-time that I was really proud of their first-half showing. They’d played really well and with a superb hunger and commitment for the game that had bettered Denham. They looked like they wanted it and I told them that the crowd watching would have been saying that we were a good team and would have been impressed by what they’d seen. I was delighted with how organised we looked.
But we warned them about complacency and let them know that Denham’s season was now resting on the final 45 minutes. I was confident however that we would get another goal as I could sense we had more to give and asked the players to dig deep again. I told them if we could add a little bit of composure in attacking areas that we’d create more chances and that one more goal would kill off the game and ultimately Denham’s season.
And we did just that. Early in the second-half we won a corner which was fired in by Danielle that the Denham keeper cleared with her fists, but the ball landed straight at the feet of Anita who rifled a shot through a crowd of players to give us a crucial three-goal advantage.
Denham tried to rally after that and sent more players forward, which did leave them more exposed at the back, but we didn’t capitalise on that because we ran out of gas but still were able to control the play in the manner we wanted. They scored an excellent consolation goal too mind after we made some tired mistakes at the other end, but it wasn’t enough for them and they found it difficult to penetrate our well marshalled defence.
I thought Ceryl Guard did a marvellous job at the back for us. She didn’t have a great deal of situations where she had to use her own physical or technical abilities, but she commanded and organised the defence well and it was the type of performance that the other players around her would have learned from and that’s a big stepping stone for their development.
Jade Creighton was also a bit of an unsung hero on the day too. She misses the final as she’s away and we had to play her out of position at centre-back, but she got on with her game and concentrated on the job at hand and should be proud of her contribution.
At the other end Chloe Julien did a tremendous job of dropping into the hole and getting on the ball whenever we broke. It allowed us to launch slick and quick attacks, so she had a great tactical influence over the play and helped make us very effective when breaking on the counter.
Overall the players can hold their heads extremely high. We built on last weeks good performance and took many positives from that match into this one and got our just rewards. We were solid, resolute, committed and full or desire and we were clinical in front of goal and scored at just the right times too.
I wouldn’t say it was our best football we’ve played this season but it was one of our most committed and hard working ones. I was very pleased with the work ethic and discipline of the players and they’ve set themselves standards now that they must meet each and every week, not just in Semi-Final’s.
I measure success by consistency so I’m asking my players to show that they can produce this type of performance again and again, game after game, season after season and if you really know what I want, decade after decade.
I came off the pitch a proud man, but it wasn’t really the win that made me feel that way, it was something else. We had a full compliment of substitutes today and I just can’t express how much respect and admiration I have for those who were on the bench and even more for those who didn’t manage to get on the pitch or weren’t named as subs.
The conduct and dignity they showed and the support they gave their team-mates cannot be under-estimated or taken lightly. They deserve so much praise and credit for their attitude on the day and I have so much admiration for the way they handled themselves. It’s never easy to leave people out but furthermore, it takes great courage and character to stay behind your team throughout regardless.
They were magnificent and those players can know that I’m very proud of them and they have my total and utmost respect. I’m a QPR man through and through, so I can’t tell you how much it hurts to see some miss out, it really does. But I’m learning the hard way and all I can hope is that these experiences and decisions we make will continue to make us better coaches and them better players in the long run.
As for me, I admit that before, during and immediately after the game it hadn’t quite sunk in, but I was focusing on the team and the players and making sure they had their heads screwed on properly. But on the way home as I sat on my own on the train, I did get slightly emotional and perhaps had I been in privacy I may have even shed a little tear…my first Rangers final, wow…it’s been a long old season, but we’re not done yet and these players have got to put this one behind them, let their football do their talking and go again.
Team: Jess Devoti, Melanie Randall (Natalie Worster), Nkechi Chukwueke, Ceryl Guard, Jade Creighton, Jade Bowley, Kesleigh Danielle Long, Scarlett Hanrahan (Sam Black), Anita Afonso, Danielle Clare Richards (Kylie Worster) & Chloe Julien
Subs and reserves: Sylvia Williams, Kylie Worster, Natalie Worster, Sam Black, Stephaie Lupano, Alex Lupano & Sam Black
Goals: Hanrahan, Richards, Afonso
Comments are closed.