Home draw to keep the points ticking over!

We all met in the usual changing rooms with an element of glee. Not only was it one of our new sisters birthday today (Happy Birthday young one!) but it was also the first time in a long time we arrived at Longbenton and parked at the top. No long walk back up the hill this week. Well actually no walk back up the hill for most of us. As we were all sat there quizzing the birthday girl, Just as Nicky was trying to deal with the extreme heat in the changing room she received an interesting phone call from our middle young sisters. They had both left the house together in separate cars, both at the wrong time, both arriving at the match after the match finished or just as the match starts. This slightly important information wasn’t quite clear. By the end of the phone call Nicky was defiantly feeling the heat!

A delightful warm up in the car park to ensure we could observe the middle young sisters parking! After completing our usual warm up we were set up to positively attack them from the first whistle. In the first 10 mins we attacked strong and defended high up the pitch. We moved the ball well forward towards goal. Our middle players were first to the ball and linked up passing throughout the pitch. The bankers began to work their way through our formation and link more passes. We defended their breaks down the wing well. Sadly Nicky’s leg gave up throughout the first half of the game and she had to step off the pitch and trust her team to battle on without her leadership on the pitch. Lou was the first to show her full commitment to the cause by making a superb tackle on he reverse whilst lying around on the floor to ensure the Bankers didn’t make it into the circle. Quickly up, Lou then moved forward with the ball ensuring we made up the ground whilst we had an overload in attack. The defence protected the middle well as the game went on and ensured a confident movement of the ball out from the back of the pitch. We managed the formation until half time keeping the game 0-0.

Coach B mixed things up in the second half and enthused us to press them hard and push for that goal to break the dead lock. Hodge jumped on the enthusiasm band wagon and started to cheer us on... “come on yellows!” Just like she had stepped back in time to her younger years of playing for Newcastle. By this time in the game, none of us knew which team Hodge was on or how many others were going to hit the deck. Megan attacked the circle well only to slip and then to carry on playing. Bazi made a floor tackle in the D to stop the Bankers from getting an attempt at goal. We continued to attack hard and run into space fast. A few tackles were made as sticks were thrown in to slow down the break of play. The Bankers received a green card and we worked hard to make the player difference count however we couldn’t get the ball in the net.
Another attack at their goal from Claire saw her carry the ball towards the top of the D and hit the ball hard into the goal. The cheers from both players and crowd bounced around the pitch. Unfortunately the goal was disallowed due to the position of the ball as it was hit. We didn’t let this effect us as we pressed more and more to try and get the goal. The final whistle went with a 0-0 draw. Joy was still about as Libby and Ella’s mum demanded a photo of her three girls who had all played in the same match. I wonder which team she was cheering?! Thank you for all the devious cakes at teas! They were yummy!!

A draw. Sometimes the hardest result to take from a game. All the same, a game that we continued to develop our tactics, movement off the ball and decision making. One thing that doesn’t need much more development is our team. We continue to play for each other regardless of the result on the pitch and continue to support each other off the pitch. We will continue to train hard together for those on and off the pitch. The league is still there for the taking and as a young boy by the name of Peter Pan once said “The moment you doubt whether you can fly. You cease forever to be able to do it. “
So believe in yourself and believe in each and I’m sure we will continue to fly!