With 6 players away on international duty, the faithful five lined up against their Upton opponents just before 12:30. Then they all came running to the touchline showing considerable prowess in mathematics, shouting 'they've got 7, they've got 7'. They were right and the pre-match deal with Upton about playing 5v5 appeared to be broken before kick off. Oh here we go again. Fortunately one of the Upton parents saw sense and persuaded their coaches that it would be unfair to play anything other than 5v5.
And so two muttering striped shirts were shown the touchline and the game kicked off with equal numbers. 8 Upton subs went for a kickabout on the adjacent pitch.
Well wrapped up Cara was between the sticks, captain Riste at the back, Lily and Laura in the edges of the middle and the returning Olivia in the middle of the middle. A sort of diamond formation with a yellow shirt at each of the four points.
Upton had the upper hand in the early stages with Abby Bateman looking a handful for Ellie Riste. Abby is a very strong player and playing alone up front she showed great touches and turns. Ellie though was up to the challenge and was superb in her sliding tackles and determination to challenge for the ball with her bigger opponent. This was a real tussle and Ellie was certainly up for it showing just how good she is at defending.
Upton took the lead but after that Waverton seemed to settle and could have easily have got the equaliser. Olivia had a great chance and shot wide and then Lily intercepted the ball fantastically near the halfway line and ran all the way to the box but her low shot was saved by the 'keeper. Laura was playing well tracking back and making some key challenges. The MOM award was certainly well deserved given her performances this season.
Towards half time though Upton got two more goals., making the score 3-0.
After a conversation with the girls and the coaches, we agreed to play the second half as a friendly with Ira and Hannah joining the Waverton team. The friendly was won by Upton 2-0.
MOM Laura, and for Upton, Abby Bateman.
No training this Monday. Robbie is training the u16s this Wednesday and has invited any u14s to come along. 4-5 at the field at Waverton. We hope to get back to Wednesdays on the field at Waverton very soon. The light is getting much better in the evenings now, so it won't be too long.
Have a good half term week.
