Set fire to the rain...

Heavy rain on the M4 as I drove west toward Gloucestershire. We can't really be playing in this, can we? I turned up the music and turned my thoughts to how gritty the U10 girls had been in training the other week, when Ms. Unsworth visited with her medals. Maybe that Olympian presence would inspire them this morning?

Marlborough were down to play in the first match, at 9am. With only 4 out of my squad of 10 actually ready to take to the pitch, we borrowed a few 'ringers' and hoped for the best. The best was promptly delivered by Phoebe, who cheerfully banged in 2 goals. As more girls arrived and got kitted and ready, we gradually swapped our players for the ringers and set to while the rain continued to pour down. 2-0 to Marlborough at the end of the first game, and the girls came off the pitch with fire in their eyes!
Straight into our second game and with all the team eager to play, we faced the diminutive Wotton Wombats. Molly and Jemima took their places upfront; Jemima slotted in three goals before being subbed (well, it's only polite to let someone else have a go!) . Molly took over shooting duties and repeated banged the ball in to the goal. Unfortunately, these didn't count; the 'D' wasn't easy to see so we should forgive Molly for not shooting from within it! Great work all the same. The Wotton girls did begin to press toward the end but the Marlborough back line held firm. 3-0 to Marlborough.
We then had a 45 minute wait, in the rain, until our next match. 7 rather soggy girls took to the pitch. The Bath Bats put up a good team and quickly opened the scoring. The Marlborough girls pulled back into their own half and struggled to get the ball forward. It is fair to say that the incessant rain had dampened the fire somewhat, and the match ended 0-4.
Last match was against the Cirencester Tigers. Florence and Verity were steadfast in defence and soaked up a lot of pressure (as well as water!). Mimi played back from mid field to help and put in some firm blocks and cleared the ball nicely, but the Cirencester girls were too quick. Marlborough rallied, with the passes beginning to connect again. Blythe and Issy made some good runs forward, supported by some nice touches by Kitty and Annabel in midfield. However it wasn't quite enough to break through the Cirencester defence, and the match ended without a goal for Marlborough; 0-3 didn't really do justice to the spirited play.

All told, a very good showing from the u10 girls, in what were challenging conditions for their first time out - the rain dampening the finer points of strategy being bellowed by their coach... OK, I'll admit it, with fogged glasses I could barely see a thing! I think I may have mentioned the need to get players forward toward the goal, just a few times. Just a few times every minute... I hope that the girls appreciate how well they played, and how far they have come on in their passing and use of space. It was clear to see that when the girls passed the ball out to a player in space, and then passed on to a player who had run forward, the ball usually ended up in our opponents' goal. And when the pressure was on, the girls dug in and defended. Now we just need to train up a goal keeper!

Enormous thanks are due to Jane and to Matt for offering to umpire, and to all who came out to play.