Women's 4s 1 - 4 London Academicals 1s (H)
By Tegan Neal
It was a sunny morning in Surbiton and the 4s were up against London Academicals, who sat just above us in the table, so we knew we needed to be switched on from the start. As per usual, Stacey arrived for her own version of the meet time and some of us were feeling a little rough from the night before, not sure the extra star jumps in the warm-up were helpful.
The game began, and it wasn’t the start we had hoped for, with Charlotte G slotting a lovely deflection into our own goal to make it 1-0. I’m sure London Academicals were grateful.
However, the 4s were able to pick themselves up, with Sophia and TT pressing relentlessly, making it difficult for the opposition to move the ball out of their own 25, while Lisa and Emily worked tirelessly in midfield, making some great leads down the line. Charlotte soon redeemed herself, delivering some lovely long balls that allowed for her to link up with the forwards, which led to some promising counter attacks.
Despite this, the opposition managed to capitalise on another attacking move, extending their lead to 2-0. However, the 4s kept fighting and were soon rewarded with a goal of their own. In true 4s style the ball scrappily rolled over the line, bringing the score to 2-1 and giving the team the perfect boost heading into half time.
After some half time coaching from Herbie and the essential sweet distribution from Em, the 4s returned to the pitch determined to turn things around. The defence stayed solid, transferring the ball quickly out the back which made it exhausting for the opposition's forwards, while Ava kept us in the game with some brilliant saves. Meanwhile, Herbie did what she does best, skilfully weaving through the opposition's entire team and creating constant pressure in attack. Despite winning consecutive short corners that came extremely close, the 4s just couldn’t quite convert them into goals.
The 4s continued to battle hard, but as the game entered the final five minutes, things became more dramatic. A reckless tackle from Maddy saw her being shown a card and sent off. London Academicals were quick to capitalise on this, leading to them scoring two quick goals back to back, taking the score to 4-1.
Despite the late goals, the 4s kept pushing right up until the final whistle. While the result wasn’t what we were hoping for there were still plenty of positives to take from the game, including lots of great passages of play throughout. And of course a great learning lesson for Stacey, who now knows you can’t hit the ball straight into the D from a free hit in the 25.