Sirens 3 - 2 Mitcham 1s (A)
29th January 2024
Saturday afternoon saw the Sirens travel away to Blagdon Sports Ground to face Mitcham Ladies 1s. Having heeded warnings of severe delays on A3 and the captain’s promise of Mini Eggs, the entire team arrived far too early to be allowed access to the pitch so began a lot of loitering in and around the nearby industrial estate.
Once gathered we welcomed back Anna D who last played with us when we were the ‘Casuals’. Having loaned three of our regulars to other teams we had just one sub for each line but were grateful to have Sophia step in to keep goal again this week.
Following a quick team warm up, captain’s briefing and a video pep talk from Tarek we were determined to dominate from the get go.
We countered some speedy young legs with our assertive ball passing and soon Anna decided she’d missed us for far too long and after ten minutes banged a ball in from open play to give us a 1-0 lead. Plenty of long balls and switches across the pitch started stretching their defence, but as half time drew near we succumbed to an equaliser before rapidly fighting back with a goal from Jax. In a solid defensive play Captain Tracey was sidelined with a pulled hamstring but we went into half time leading 2-1.
With our tails up we started the second half with continued determination. Anna struck again after four minutes. We were now 3-1 up and having a great time. Some great short corners were taken but failed to find their target at both ends. As bodies became a little weary and the back line continued without a sub, Mitcham sneaked in another goal after 12 minutes.
Sirens dug in and with clear communication on the pitch, encouragement from Tracey in the dug out and the lone voice of Lisa on the other side of the pitch we worked hard at our passing, crabbing and defensive Ws , pressuring Mitcham to stay mostly in their own half for the rest of the match.
The final score was 3-2 to Sirens. A big thank you to Wendy Beaney for travelling with us to umpire and Lisa for supporting from the sidelines (we hope to see you back on the pitch again soon).
Lots of nominations for Player of the Match. Well deserved joint winners were Anna D and Suz.
