Six Goals see Tollbar U18 Girls to Victory 1/2/06

February 27th, 2006

The day began with the team, suited and booted, piling onto the coach bound for Peterborough. Two hours later we arrived at Stanground Sports College.

Some pre-match relaxation techniques from Caretaker Manager Mrs Monkhouse were followed by a psych-up from Captain Abi Clayton in the dressing room. Then it was out on to the less than perfect pitch for the warm up.

The opposition joined us some fifteen minutes later - looking very professional and athletic. Tollbar were more than up to meeting the challenge that lay ahead, but it was going to be tough.

We won the toss, opted for the kick off and dominated from the start. After a steady build up, our early pressure became too much for Stanground when Zabrina Short broke down the left wing before cutting inside and finishing superbly to put us 1-0 up.

However, we let our early dominance go to waste and a short time later a lapse in concentration led to Stanground scoring an equaliser.

Tollbar fought back with some excellent teamwork as well as individual flare. Jodie Ireland made it 2-1 with a strong finish despite being taken down by the defender before Abi Clayton latched on to a loose ball in the box and slotted in the third goal - despite also being taken down by the Stanground defence. The physical nature of the game only increased as time went on.

Stanground went on to sneak another goal which appeared to be blatantly offside but was given, leaving the score 3-2 Tollbar at half time. Sam Dolby, who had made a valuable vocal contribution from the sideline during the 1st half, came on in defence for the 2nd half.

Tollbar had clearly switched off at the start of the 2nd half and the fluid creativity they had shown in the earlier stages was overshadowed by an early goal from Stanground to level the scores.

Tollbar were always the better side though and did not panic. Lucy Watson’s stunning goal from a free kick- which was taken from nearer the half way line than the penalty area - left Stanground speechless.

Their frustrations soon began to come to the surface with some very aggressive behaviour- both physical and verbal. However, Tollbar kept their nerve and proved too strong for them.

Jordan Rawlins headed home a fifth goal from a Lucy Watson cross, before Jodie Ireland finished the game off by making it 6-3 Tollbar from a volleyed shot.

All in all, as well as some brilliant individual efforts, it was an excellent team performance from a side who have only been training together for a couple of weeks.