A disappointing loss for Marlborough 2

Marlborough 2 made the trip to Wootton Bassett knowing that the match against the top team in the league was going to be a challenging one, and that success would be dependant on every player putting in 100% effort and working well as a team. Everyone was up for it, and looking forward to the challenge.

The centre pass went our way, but Wootton Bassett were quick to get the ball and quickly scored a goal before we had really switched on - sloppy on our part, but Marlborough stepped up and started pushing the pressure on. The rest of the first half was fairly well balanced in terms of ball possession and we kept pushing towards the WB goal. Unfortunately for Marlborough, whenever Wootton Bassett broke they broke hard and had some excellent teamwork passing the ball through the middle of the pitch which resulted in a second goal against us. Still we kept our heads up. Finally we achieved a break with Verity pushing into the D on the right hand side, crossing the ball in and a cracking conversion by Ellie Davis putting the ball high into the back of the net. This well needed piece of morale kept our heads up, and Taty was unlucky not to equalise shortly after. However, with just a minute to go until half time Wootton Bassett scored again on a quick break.

At half time the game was still all to play for. The team were playing well together and everyone was putting in 100%. However, the ease with which Wootton Bassett were breaking through the middle called for a different tactic so some swift reorganisation took place. We went into the second half with our heads held high and optimism that we could pull the game back. Everyone continued to put in maximum effort and ball possession was again fairly evenly split between the teams. However, Wootton Bassett continued to capitalise on their breaks, and as the team slowly tired they scored a further two goals. This time Verity and Holly were unlucky not to score on our breaks, but we were unable to get past the WB goal keeper. In the last two minutes of the game Wootton Bassett were awarded a short corner, during which they scored their final goal of the game.

Overall a disappointing result which didn't reflect the fantastic effort and good teamwork displayed by the team. Many nominations for player of the match, but deservedly won by Gabbie Painting who had another cracking game.