On Sunday the Eagles headed to Cobham for their third successive away league fixture. Both teams had been promoted after last season and had been very evenly matched so it was always likely to be a close game.
The Eagles had been slightly lacklustre in their warm up but after some words from the coaches before kick off they started the game at full speed. The Eagles defence repelled some early Cobham pressure with some well-timed tackles and hefty clearances up the pitch. Ruby, Tabs and Ria worked well together to make telling interventions and move the ball up the pitch. The opposition had no shots on goal throughout the half
In midfield Ella, as usual, covered every blade of grass both driving forward with the ball and covering back when out of possession. Maeve and Emma were able to link with their forwards and the game soon ended up played predominantly in the Cobham half.
As the half played out it seemed that it would just be a matter of time before the Eagles found the back of the Cobham net with frequent shots coming in from Freya, Lyla and Ella. Freya made a strong through run towards the Cobham goal but stumbled at the last second and the ball ran away from her. Another attack saw the ball crossed to Lyla who blasted it against the crossbar and there were several scrambles in the Cobham penalty area but the Eagles just couldn’t get the ball over the line.
Just before half time Tabs was clattered in a challenge and had to leave the pitch after landing heavily on her head. This was an opportunity to make some changes and see Bonnie, Molly and Isabel come onto the field and quickly get involved in the action.
The second half saw the Eagles formation slightly disrupted as players were rotated into different positions as substitutions were made and Cobham slowly got themselves into the game. On a couple of occasions their centre forward came close with one shot being dragged just wide and a second powerful shot being tipped onto the crossbar by Seren who then safely held onto the rebound. With 10 minutes to go a long ball from a Cobham free kick beat the Albury defensive line and their centre forward clinically found the back of the Albury net.
The final 10 minutes was end to end attacking but neither side had any clear cut chances and Cobham saw the game out to win by one goal to nil. With s slight quirk to the fixture list, the return game is next Sunday at Albury Heath and the Eagles will be keen to overturn today’s result.
Star player: Ella