The Eagles girls travelled to Dorking with a small squad of 10 players for their final league game of the season. The game was played in the warm sunshine and the players found the heat and the hard dry ground to their liking.

Mole Valley started the game with eight players but after 10 minutes they were up to the full compliment. However, the Eagles made their one player advantage count as they dominated the early possession and mounted a series of attacks. Freya and Maeve repeatedly worked the ball down the wings and made telling crosses into the box. On several occasions when they were unable to cross the ball they were able to pull the ball back to their teammates who could then move the ball into the penalty area. With Amber and Emma A maintaining pressure in the midfield, the Mole Valley team struggled to get the ball into the Eagles half. After several shots went just wide, Lyla was given the ball in space, tuned away from a defender and shot smartly into the back of the net to put the Eagles in front.

Once Mole Valley were up to nine players, they were far harder to break down and began to mount their own attacks. But the Eagles back three were up to the task with Ria, Ruby and Molly continually breaking up the play and moving the ball back up the pitch. The interplay between them was excellent as they passed the ball neatly to each other to create space before moving it into midfield.

Although the Eagles dominated the play they couldn’t find another goal before half time and the game was definitely in the balance.

Mole Valley started the second half as the stronger team and on several occasions had breaks into the Eagles penalty area but Lyla, sharing goalkeeping responsibilities with Emma B, looked calm and assured with the gloves on. Bonnie and Emma B, who came into midfield for the second half, both made a big impact as they constantly chased and hounded the opposition into making mistakes. With Maeve and Freya still full of running and Amber and Emma A feeding them the ball, the Eagles gradually took back control of the game.

The Eagles had several chances to score with Ruby, Emma B, Maeve and Freya all coming close but not finding the back of the net. As the game moved to its conclusion, the Mole Valley girls started to push forward and they saw one shot hit the post and another go just wide. It seemed like that they might snatch an equalizer, but Molly, as calm as ever covered well and combined with Ruby’s powerful tackling and Ria’s speed they kept the opposition out.

With just minutes left on the clock, another midfield scrap saw the Eagles gain possession and the ball found Freya, who took it passed two defenders and scored to put the Eagles 2-0 up and finish the game.

After losing the first three games of the season (two league games and a cup game) the Eagles Girls went on a 19 match unbeaten run to the end of the season – a remarkable achievement and testament to their commitment, determination and skills development this year. Well done girls – you’ve all been fantastic!

Star Player: Ruby