The Eagles travelled to Hampton and Richmond to play the first round of the Surrey Girls League Cup against Hampton and Richmond who are top of the league above them. Everyone was excited by the prospect of playing on a 3G pitch in a stadium with dugouts and a stand for the spectators!
Unfortunately three of the Eagles players were hit with injury so a rather depleted squad of just 12 made the journey up the A3. This was further hampered when Molly was forced off injured ten minutes into the game. However, she bravely came back on for the last ten minutes and played through some obvious plain in her right foot.
After a somewhat lacklustre warm up the coaches were quite anxious as kick off approached. But they needed have worried as the Eagles were not over-awed in the slightest and proved yet again that a slightly unfocussed warm up often leads to a fully focussed performance once the whistle blows!
The opposition had the better of the early exchanges and moved the ball fluently through the middle of the midfield and looked to play passes between the Eagles defence to their skilful forward line. For the first few minutes gaps were appearing and Ria , Ruby, Tabs and Ava were on the back foot making last ditch tackles and clearances. The midfield of Ella , Emma, Molly and Freya started to match the pace of the opposition and as the half progressed the Eagles began to control possession. Emma and Ella made huge tackles throughout the half and regularly affected interceptions to stop the Hampton team moving the ball forward and Freya and Molly started to dominate down the flanks linking well with Lyla and Livs.
With Molly picking up an injury early into the game, Sophia, on her debut, was asked to play on the left side of midfield and once she got to grips with the pace of the game, became a real thorn in the side of the opposition with her chasing, passing and tackling.
Lyla, who took up position on the right played some lovely crosses into the penalty area and Freya and Livs both found space and time to have shots on goal. Occasionally the Eagles looked to make one too many passes, or take one too many touches before shooting and some strong goalkeeping along with some indecision kept them out. Five minutes before halftime and very much against the run of play, the Hampton team pushed the ball between the Albury defence and their centre forward ran onto it and shot low into the corner of the net. Seren got a fingertip to the ball and almost pulled off a stunning save but the shot was placed too accurately into the corner of the goal.
At half time the back line was slightly re-jigged and the defenders were instructed to close the gaps and be more compact against the opposition attack. The midfield were asked to move the ball quicker out to Lyla and Livs on the wings and for the team to trust their fitness.
The second half saw a dominant Eagles display. Seren, was not troubled in the goal but played her part by launching a series of kicks out of hand to get the Eagles moving forward, Both Ruby and Tabs brought the ball out of defence with strength and fired passes out wide to the forward line. Ria and Ava worked tirelessly to break up any forward momentum from the Hampton team and as the half wore on the opposition were limited to very few shots, none of which really threatened Seren.
Emma and Ella took control in the middle of the pitch and Sophia linked well with Livs to cause a frequent threat down the right. Freya and Lyla moved the ball smartly and the Eagles launched wave after wave of attacks. With Ella fouled outside the box, Ruby took a powerful free kick that beat the keeper only to be kept out by the crossbar. But the pressure, pace and tenacity of the Eagles eventually told as Freya broke into the box and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net. As the half drew to a close, the Eagles pushed and pushed for a winner and with the last kick of the game, Livs got the better of her defender and raced into the penalty area and took a shot, only for the ball to go just wide of the post.
There is no extra time in this cup competition so it went straight to penalties. Ruby, Lyla, Ella, Tabs and Freya ‘volunteered’ to take the first five, and Livs to take the sixth if needed. This was even more tense than the match had been. The whole team stood as one to see Seren make two glorious saves and three Albury penalties go in. With each team neck and neck and having to take six penalties, Hampton scored the decisive one to win the match, but the moral victory was with the Eagles who were all magnificent on the day. What a match!
Star Player : Ella