Match report 10th Oct – U10s v Rainford Rangers

Match Report – 10th Oct. PNE U10s v Rainford Rangers

 

Now that we are passed the Winter equinox and moving ever nearer to the darkening Winter solstice, one would expect the weather to be generally deteriorating – but far from it. We experienced yet another glorious, dry, bright, sunny morning that broke at Rainford, with the advantage of an extensively, well drained expanse of ground to play on, lifting our spirits as we made match preparations.

 

I don’t like to start with a cliché, but today was certainly a game of two halves. In the relatively lack lustre, first half we lacked creativity and penetration even though we had created a few good chances on goal. Our game lacked our usual passing fluency and we looked uncomfortable on the ball. Maybe this uneasiness stemmed from the absence of Shanae our regular goalkeeper who is dependable and rock solid in goal, exuding a confidence and sense of invincibility at the back, spreading forward through defence and to the rest of the team. Instead thanks go to Emma and Grace for going in goal in Shanae’s absence and doing a fine job.

 

At half time after a quick debrief and a couple of changes with Jaz and Emma T. coming on at the start of the second half PNE came out guns blazing with shots on target from literally the 4th second resulting from Chelsea combining with a great one two pass from Olivia.  From the outset we looked a different team entirely and took the game to Rainford, which made an exciting game to watch. As the match proved in the second half, Rainford were a good team to play against on a small sized home pitch, but we found them difficult to break down. They defended well and always threatened for a counter. Thanks go to Rainford for giving us a great game of football.

 

Finally, I believe today Emma T. jumped on the learning curve and climbed up high, growing massively in confidence and stature by achieving huge success in her tackles and forward passing; moving position off the wing and playing as a defensive midfielder. This game was like a coming of age match for her and deservedly, she won the Man of the Match trophy for her accomplished performance. Extremely well done and also a huge well done to the rest of the team who dug in deep when it really mattered and pulled the game around in the second half. That is the mark of a good team.

 

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