Our weekend tour of northern England tourist attractions took us to York on Saturday and Stockport on Sunday. I was happy to be able to use as many as 14 players over the two games. They all deserve praise for their contributions.
York U16s are widely regarded as one of the top 4 teams in the Northern Conference so I anticipated a tough game. Maybe I should consider becoming a clairvoyant because that’s precisely what we got! Defences dominated for the opening 10 minute which we won 11-4. We continued to look the more accomplished side up to half-time and established a 27-14 lead. Our team defence had been as good as I could have hoped for but special mention must go to our two main disrupters, Christiana and Elsa. They were truly outstanding.
Christiana, ably supported by Emmy, also orchestrated our offense to allow Darcie, Emmanuela and Elsa to do the bulk of the scoring before and after the break (during which time I had a kitkat!) We were now in a relatively strong position but this did not last long. We began to turn the ball over due to passing which had become sloppier than the custard I was served up with for school dinners. We also seemed more lethargic than normal. As a result, the lead had been cut to seven with the momentum now firmly with the home side.
Fortunately, as all good teams do, the players listened to what could either be termed as advice or as an ultimatum after a time out. Their response was first-class. We eased the margin back up to 11 going into the final period and undoubtedly saved the best til last. Using all 10 players in almost equal measure (although Maisie I is a little shorter than Elsa!), our stifling team defence restricted a talented York side to a mere 1 point across the first 9 minutes of the quarter. A deserved 54-34 victory resulted
Well played all of the above plus Morgan, Aila, Maisie and Chichi for such a fine all round performance.
The road trip excitement did not end there. It extended way into the evening by way of a 6 hour quick stop for what is allegedly ‘fast food’ at a McDonald’s to end a thoroughly enjoyable day. Many thanks to Christiana’s dad for driving and to Morgan’s mum for again being Mrs Organised, as well as to our loyal band of supporters.
In what was only our second u14 Premier league fixture of the season, we travelled to play Stockport at St Anne’s Voluntary High School which made me wonder if the pupils could decide whether or not they wanted to turn up for lessons! Results so far elsewhere at this level suggest that it would be Sheffield and Birmingham who are our main threats but it never pays to underestimate any opponent. Consequently, I started with what I currently consider to be my first 5 of Christiana, Adele, Darcie, Emmanuela and Elsa.
We began in lively fashion and created several early opportunities. Initially, these all went abegging, as can often be the case on a foreign court (even though Stockport is in England.) It did not take long for the girls to settle. We totally dominated the first quarter, despite using 10 of the 11 players on duty, to lead 23-5. By half-time the lead had grown to 24 and ended almost double that to finish 75-31 against opponents who never gave up from the first whistle to the last. I was very pleased by the contributions made by Olivia, Alycia, Maisie W, Zoe, Chichi and Emmy who all proved how deep a bench we have this season.