The Eagles played their penultimate home fixture of the season this morning. With the sun out and the pitch dry it was set to be another all action match with the Eagles keen to avenge their 4-2 loss away at Fever United earlier in the season.
The Eagles started the game like a whirlwind, winning all the initial challenges in midfield with Ella, Ria and Bonnie quick to the 50:50 ball and able to move the ball quickly into space down the wings. With the wind at their backs the game was played extensively in the Fever half for the first fifteen minutes but strong goalkeeping and some slightly wayward shooting kept the score at 0-0.
Fever’s real strength was through their Numbers 8 and 9 up front and as they started to get a foothold in the game these two players came to the fore. On several occasions they played balls in behind the defence but outstanding covering work from Tabs Heidi and Ruby alongside a very confident Lyla in goal meant that these attacks were snuffed out.
At the other end of the pitch Cassidy and Freya kept running into space and causing panic in the Fever defence and Emma and Bonnie make some lovely accurate passes through the defence but it seemed like the ball just wouldn’t fall for the Eagles to make the telling goalscoring shot. However, the Eagles took the lead after a huge throw from Tabs into the penalty area was dropped by the Fever goalie and in the scrap that ensued the ball rebounded off a defender and into the net. Buoyed by this the Eagles pressed home their dominance with two more quick goals. The first from a huge clearance by Ruby upfield found Ella and then Livs and after a lovely run down the wing the ball was crossed into the penalty area for Ria to tap home. Soon after some lovely link up play between Freya, Livs and Ella saw Ella tuck the ball past the goalie to score the Eagle’s third.
But if the Eagles thought the game was as good as over they were wrong. Withing minutes Fever worked the ball beautifully through the midfield and their centre forward ran on to a well timed pass to pull a goal back. For the rest of the half the teams battled it out but couldn’t add to the scoreline
At halftime the coaches warned the players not to drop their concentration as Fever had beaten them 4-2 in the first fixture after the Eagles had led 2-0 at halftime. However, it seemed as if history might repeat itself as soon into the second half the Fever 8 and 9 combined yet again to score and it felt that the tide was turning.
The second half saw Lyla replaced by Seren in goal. Lyla then came on up front and caused panic in the opposition defence with her strength and skill over the ball. Although Lyla, Freya and Ella all had shots on goal in the second half combined with a series of threatening corners whipped in by Ruby, in the main the Fever players started to believe they could win the game and the pressure was on.
A tactical switch saw Livs drop into midfield to tightly mark the opposition number 8 and the other midfielders were asked to play deeper and defend in numbers while Lyla and Freya were instructed to stay up field and attack on the break. The change worked well as Livs used her pace to nullify the opposition playmaking number 8 and Lyla and Freya broke the Fever defensive line on the break on several occasions after huge clearances from Ruby, Tabs and Heidi. In fact, the Fever team had just one effective shot on the Eagles goal for the rest of the match and this was smothered by Seren
There was a huge sigh of relief at the final whistle as the Eagles held on for victory and showed that when needed to, they could hold onto a lead with a slight change of tactics and a vast quality of determination and desire. Well played!

Star Players : Lyla and Ruby
Parents’ Player : Ria