The girls showed fantastic energy and commitment to earn their draw, despite being a player down. Kick Action started strong, taking advantage of the fact we had just finished a game with some really energetic and attacking movement. Our girls did well to manage their players, organising our defence well and being brave and committed in their defensive 1v1. Shola made a number of superb saves, keeping us in the game and taking us in 0-0 at half-time.
After half-time Bloomsbury began to grow into the game and 5 minutes in, Naomi scored a fantastic goal after tackling their defender and shooting immediately. A real rocket of a shot! 7 minutes later, Kick Action equalised, but another well-worked set-piece released Laura, who finished clinically from close range to give us a 2-1 lead. After this, legs tired and injuries began to take their toll, but the girls stood resolute and carved some good chances for themselves on the break. Our defenders were excellent, frequently winning their battles and doing the hard stuff well! With 5 to go, Kick Action equalised again, ending the game 2-2.
The girls should be really proud of their efforts once again, and the quality and work rate across the pitch was superb from every single player. Shola’s saves were excellent and kept us in the game in the first half. She made more than a handful of super stops to deny Kick Action’s early attacks and deserves great credit for her reflexes and her bravery to deny close-range efforts. There were some really agile dives and acrobatic stops in there too, reaching right across the goal. Player of the match goes to Naomi! Naomi was excellent in this game. She was brave both in attack and defence, linking both together with some excellent passing and progressive actions. Her effort was superb, working really hard both in the centre and on the wing to get up and down for her team. Her goal topped off a great day for her, and it was brilliant to see her aggressively tackle and win the ball, creating a great shot with some serious power on it! Brilliant performance and a well-deserved goal.
This week we looked at our off the ball movement to create support angles and how we can help teammates with our movements. It was great to see our players looking to create passing options for our deeper players, and it was pleasing to see how often we played through their first line of pressure. We will continue to develop our support movements and our line-breaking actions to improve our build-up play and progress us up the field. We will also look to communicate a little more effectively in the latter stages of the game.
All players displayed excellent teamwork by being able to play in numerous positions on the pitch. Showing creativity for scoring three goals when receiving numerous setbacks from the opposition was great to see. An absolute pleasure to be the coach for this game and with this group.
There were several moments were the players and parents from both teams were smiling and created such a positive environment, with a competitive game, producing so many learning and enjoyable moments! Player of the match goes to Liam as it was his first game as a gold team player, and he showed unbelievable work rate displaying terrific decision making on and off of the ball. An excellent display of ball mastery and execution of passes! We were consistent throughout the game and aspects that came from the foundation of our training focus were on display. The aim is to replicate the actions showed on and off pitch from this game as it encapsulated the Bloomsbury values, showing the brilliance of this age group!
Robert coming off the bench made a huge different in the way the team was approaching the adversity, loosing 1-0. At half time the players were unfocused and disorganised. We all took some deep breaths and had 30 seconds of self-awareness and got back into the second half knowing what we should do, trusting each-other and be brave to trust ourselves! A completely different game in the second half! Robert is showing to be a big all-in-one player! He started the season playing for the black team, was called to play for the golds for a few games in the absence of some players and now to be a start and a playmaker in the golds, Robert in flying! He scored 4 goals and led the team to an amazing turnover and brought the 3-points home!
We are practicing interception and the different between an intercept and a tackle. Players are getting better at understanding that difference and that, when intercepting, they can play ahead and forward, playing dangerous counterattacks. We will keep working on interception with some progression in the way we play when we get to win the ball from opponents.
Bakita and Poppy offering to go in goal showed a strong start. We were winning the ball high up the pitch and showed high pressing throughout. Noa’s team talk at the end of the game was the highlight! Bakita is player of the match for going in goal and playing very well out on pitch. In training, we worked on being compact as well as improving our throw ins. We will improve on our 1v1s against the goalkeeper next week!
Max drove creativity through the midfield in the first half and our confidence in retaining possession when the fullbacks gained possession was great to see. Boris showed confidence to take on and tiptoe through three players after playing short from a corner.
Player of the match goes to Yacine for his quality in 1v1 situations and strong tackles preventing opposing counter attacks in the second half. We had a lot of ball movement in training between both sessions, where playing through the thirds was built on from shadow practice in the final third, and that creativity and ball retention continued into the match. We will be working on more confidence in using our goalkeeper to retain possession!
Having conceded a 2nd goal to cancel out our opener, it was vitally important we could reset, reassert our dominance, and push on to regain the lead. Yacine showed composure, temperament and quality against the oppositions press. What a delight to see! Yacine deserves player of the match for the above and demonstrating Bloomsbury’s values to do a shift in goal. Well done young man! We will be working on taking more responsibility off the ball to track runners and revert to a better defensive structure.
Could not fault the work rate of anyone in the team this week. We managed to come back twice from trailing a goal down. O’Miya showed great strength in attack scoring our 3rd goal and El had some incredible runs on the wing, linking up well with Jet. Jet received coaches player of the match, scoring 2 great counter attacking goals with serious pace. It was great to have Frankie back in the squad after an injury set her back.
Defence played incredibly well! Although we played well, especially utilising the wings, it was a learning curve for the team as we lost focus a few times and it cost us a last-minute winner. Our controlling in the air has been a lot better and we will be looking to work on 1v1 defending.
The girls started really strong, pressing with a great intensity high up the pitch. We took the lead through Jorja in the 5th minute, before conceding 2 goals 10 minutes later to be trailing the Vipers 1-2 5 minutes before the end of the half. Our forward players combined well to release Naomi, who finished really well to take us into half-time with a draw.
After half-time, the game opened up, with both teams having some good chances. 5 minutes from full time, a well-worked corner found Laura, who finished fantastically with a volley on her weaker left foot-a really great piece of skill! 2 minutes later, a defensive mix up saw the ball loop awkwardly over our defence and found a player at the back post, who tied the game 3-3. We were so close to the win, and it would have been just what the team deserved!
Laura’s goal was the highlight! It was a really fine piece of skill and technique from Laura. As the ball dropped out of the air from the corner, she struck it cleanly with her weaker left foot on the volley. She kept it low, connected with the centre of the ball well and put great power on the strike. A goal she should be really pleased with! Player of the match goes to Laura. Laura was absolutely superb off the ball in both games this weekend and deserves a special mention. Her intensity and work ethic when pressing helped force our opponents deep into their half, frequently penning them into corners and forcing mistakes. Laura’s effort and excellence in this area perfectly captured the Bloomsbury Values, and she was very exciting to watch with the ball at her feet as well, using some great bits of skill to progress the play and take players on 1v1.
This week we looked at our off the ball movement to create support angles and how we can help teammates with our movements. It was great to see our players looking to create passing options, and it was pleasing to see how often we played through their first line of pressure. We will continue to develop our support movements and our line-breaking actions to improve our build-up play and progress us up the field. We will also look to communicate a little more effectively in the latter stages of the game.
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