Fareham Ladies 3s away at Yateley

The ladies 3s travelled up to Yateley this afternoon having barely scraped a team together this week due to some weird selection dramas. Thank you very much to the 3 who doubled up for us - you saved our bacon.
As we had no goalie this week, we made the decision to start with 11 outfield players. We had some kit and a half volunteer to go in goal, but felt that starting everyone in a position they are comfortable in was more important to our game. We could always call it at half time if we needed to.
We started strong, and kept that up throughout the game. We made lovely, easy passes and built some excellent attacks up through middle and down both wings, which resulted in really rattling the opposition. Having the extra player on pitch also made the opposition stop and think and made our game much stronger. Yateley had a couple of lucky shots and shorts in the first half, leaving them up at 4-0 by half time. However, not a single player let it get to them, and we came out just as strong in the second half after some much needed jelly babies. In fact, we really threatened Yateley in the first part of this half; ending up in and around their D time and time again and only just failing to convert these chances into goals (not for the lack of trying!). We didn't let our heads drop at all, and Yateley really started flagging towards the end, which showed that our fitness was tip top. Great game girls. Unfortunately, a couple more lucky shorts meant this half too ended 4-0, leaving us at 8-0 full time. This scoreline definitely didn't reflect our game however, and I honestly am grinning right now when I think about how well we played today. You should all be rightly proud of yourselves - in fact, here's a little thank you to each of you for your game today.
Zoe, you were solid as our sweeper, all over the D when needed, and you cleared the ball expertly again and again. You stepped up to being our almost-keeper admirably. Katy you were also a solid defence player today. You knew exactly where your player was at all times and put some great balls through for the mids to pick up on. Niamh, your quick thinking and ability to run round without looking out of breath saved us throughout, and your fantastic 1-2s with Mollie were excellent for getting the ball up the pitch to the forwards. Mollie you had great control of your section of the pitch - knowing exactly who was where and how to shut them down, and where to put the ball to get through to our mids. Daisy, your spatial awareness on the pitch was excellent. You had some great runs up the wing, and supported Anya wonderfully. Anya, you dropped when I needed you to and pushed up when it was clear you should, and you had some great, clearly thought out passes through to the forwards. Rach, you were a solid inner player, all over the pitch and irritating the defenders, as well as supporting all the players coming through with a little side pass. Debs, your position on pitch was exactly where I needed you to be, and you had some wonderful support on attacks. Hannah, you just didn't stop today, and your ability to step through player after player and keep control of the ball is fantastic. You really scared the keeper on several occasions. Vicky, you had some fantastics runs up the wings, which were great for transferring the ball from the defence to the forwards, and again you really threatened the keeper throughout. Patti, you were here there and everywhere, in exactly the right position every time I looked up, ready to receive the ball and get up to the D!
Thanks also to the parents who came along to support/drove people all the way up/are generally great people, and to the umpire Andy - great game!
MoM to Mollie - fantastic game after a whole game already!
DoD to me by default because really, no-one deserved it this week. (Also maybe because I downed a girl with a ball to the knee ooooooops)