The day
A few days of rain in the run up to the game had taken their toll on the pitch, the lower half especially slippy with puddles in both goalmouths. Spitting rain showers passed through on a brisk wind though nothing compared to last week at Newmarket.
The goals and substitutions
Starting line up: Skye (gk), Tyler, Emily, Simi, Abby, Scarlett, Faye, Abigail, Tia
Inka on for Scarlett
1-0 - Rowdies goal kick out to Tyler who finds Tia. Great finish.
2-0 - Tia earns a corner. Emily sends it in and Abigail puts the ball home.
Elly on for Faye
3-0 - A goal disallowed for offside a moment earlier, Tia picks up the ball, surges forward and calmly beats the keeper.
Scarlett on for Tia
4-0 - Skye's unsuccessful penalty was quickly forgotten as Inka combined with Abby to put Abigail in for her second.
Faye on for Abigail
5-0 - Emily's corner beats the defence and is met by Scarlett who knees home the ball on the volley.
6-0 - Two minutes later and Scarlett has another, skating into the box with the defence backing off and slotting home.
7-0 - Very pretty, nicely worked short corner sees a one-two between Emily and Elly, with Emily sending in the ball. Faye improvises a super volley into the net.
8-0 - Long range free-kick specialist Emily plants one straight between the sticks from 25 yards.
HALF-TIME
Second half line up: Faye (gk), Abigail, Emily, Simi, Elly, Scarlett, Skye, Inka, Tia
9-0 - Emily's corner is headed by Skye back into the box to Scarlett who picks up her hat-trick with a calm finish.
10-0 - Skye gets off the mark for the season with a powerful strike from distance wide on the left.
11-0 - Elly's nutmeg gets through to Scarlett who collects another from a narrow angle.
12-0 - Inka finally gets her goal after an interchange of passes with Tia.
Abby on for Scarlett
Scarlett takes over in goal from Faye
Tyler on for Simi
13-0 - Over head kick from Skye saved by keeper. Abigail dispossesses a defender and grabs her hat-trick, a great shot cutting in from wide left.
Faye on for Inka
14-0 - Tia closes the scoring and secures her own hat-trick, running from half-way and finishing with class.
The opposition
Huntingdon came a little under strength and with no subs to call on. They kept their spirit pretty much to the end and were enthusiastic if not effective. They also have their own cup semi-final against Newmarket to look forward to - my money is on Newmarket to go through.
The players
Simi and Tyler both had excellent games, looking to get forward and support when the opportunity was there, providing an option to the wingers, closing down on the ball and communicating well with Emily who had another great game. Her calling and positioning well demonstrated the recent developments we are making in our defensive organisation - a cracking goal and excellent corners too.
Scarlett controlled the game again from the centre of midfield and has further embellished the central spine of our team this season. Confident to carry and finish when the opportunity is there, her positional sense and passing and link-up set the tempo of our play, whilst her four goals today took her to the 20 goal mark with ten games still to go. On the flanks, Elly had a great run-out, holding up the ball sensibly and passing and receiving with midfield and forwards to fine effect. Abby worked hard throughout, tracking her marker forward and back, also putting in some really excellent and threatening crosses.
Abigail never fails to deliver, wherever she is asked to play and showed that again against Huntingdon. Her sharp finishing ability brought reward in a fine hat-trick - her work away from the goals is often pivotal. Skye showed that besides being one of our age group's leading keepers, as an outfielder she can hold her own and provide a powerful attacking threat from the left. Chuffed to bits she scored such a super goal to break her season's duck and secure another year when all our players have scored. Faye provided both quote of the day - 'Going in goal is like being a sub, only you stand up' - and another hard working shift in midfield and attack, topped off by a nice reaction volley finish. Not quite sure how she got the goalkeeping shirt so dirty though!
And finally, our strike twins, so different yet so effective together, fifty goals between them already this season. Inka struggled to find her football feet initially, understandably so after a week of standing side-ways and sliding down mountains, but she will have benefited from the run-out ahead of next week. Tia is in a sharp run of form with 7 goals in two games - I fully expect her to continue in such a rich vein. Class, as they say, is permanent.
Result: won 14-0
Team: Skye, Simi, Emily (c), Tyler, Abigail, Abby, Scarlett, Faye, Tia
Subs: Elly, Inka
Scorers: Tia (3), Scarlett (4), Abigail (3), Emily, Faye, Skye, Inka
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