Brooklands U13 vs Timperley U13

Brooklands U13 - 8
Timperley U13 - 17
It was great to get a game today and the weather was far kinder than expected! This game was closer than the scoreline suggests.

Timperley U13 away at Brooklands - we expected a tough fixture. The cap of 13 meant that we had to select a team that left out some very talented players, but how this team today rose to the challenge!

The 1st quarter started as a very close contest, the scores level after Q1. It looked like we were going to have a very close game.
But Timperley became stronger in the outfield, gelling together more and more as the game progressed.
Q2 was better, with improved link-up play. Our defensive positioning started off leaving much to be desired, but improved markedly as the game progressed.
Q3 was an almost perfect quarter for Timperley. Excellent defensive work coupled with good transitions and finishing saw us put the game beyond Brooklands reach with one quarter to spare!
In Q4 we still needed to show composure and control. The girls did this with aplomb, looking to use the ball more intelligently and move it around the team.
A few balls went to ground, but this is part of the learning curve.
Overall this was very positive in terms of how this team should look to develop over the season.

The girls deserve a mention, as this was a well earned victory. Lauren and Matilda learned a lot in defence today, showing marked improvement on positional awareness as the game progressed. Keep working on that girls! Charlotte and Hattie gave accomplished performances, and at times were bossing the Timperley fan, stifling the Brooklands attack.

Adding to our defensive strength were Laura, Eva, and Emily - all very effective in defensive midfield positions! Laura did a great job of picking up loose balls, and is turning into a very reliable defensive midfielder. Eva ran all day, causing Brooklands problems and Emily proved that she can attack too with a very well taken goal!
Layli and Franzi were solid in midfield, working hard to track back and, as always, highly effective in attack. Some good link up play between our midfielders gave us a very stable base to build from.

Our attacking trio of Carys, Cara and Sophie were an excellent combo. Stretching the Brooklands defence, they were incredibly efficient and potent when it came to goalscoring!
Sophie did a great job in her position around goal, allowing Carys and Cara the room to show their pace. Both showed incredible shooting skills, bagging a stack of goals between them!

Our goalie (and Timperley MVP today), Katie Tighe, had a stormer! Katie is getting better and better with every game. A team with a goalie as effective as Katie is, is a very tough team to beat.

Credit to the Brooklands goalie today too. She made some great saves!

Overall, this was a great team performance. There was some serious talent on the pitch today, but a big chunk of talent absent. That bodes very well for this U13 when we finally, one day, return to normality!

Huge thanks to Cengiz Ilhan and Ellie Racle for refereeing this game. Without them it could not have gone ahead! And to Robin for his help at warmup and on the sideline.

See you at training on Wednesday.
Well done girls!

Goals:
Carys - 8
Cara - 5
Franzi - 2
Emily - 1
Layli - 1