U10 Phoenix were beaten by a hard-working and well organised West Moor team on Saturday. West Moor started at a quicker tempo and lead 3-0 within 10 mins. Alice and Anya were defending well, however, two of the three goals resulted when both were outnumbered with our midfielders not getting in defensive positions quick enough after our attacked broke down. Phoenix gradually started to feel their way into the game, with Jess twice getting down the inside left channel but her crosses were cleared before our midfield could get up in support. The girls went further behind before Gracie started to provide some penetrating runs from midfield. One occasion saw her drive forward and fire home powerfully, to make the score 4-1 at half time.

The girls got a lift from this and, during the later stages of the 1st half and the 3rd quarter of the game, the game was mainly being played in the West Moor half. Pressure finally told, with Jess reducing the deficit to 4-2. At this stage it was all Phoenix, with a third goal looking imminent. The key to the turn-around being our defence, lead by Alice and Anya pushing up to the half way line during our attacks, which meant we could sustain attacks if we lost the ball, allowing us to regain possession quickly. The compact shape was allowing Gracie, Jess, Lola and Daisy to really drive at the opposition defence. However, we were unable to reduce the deficit as, on occasions we failed to take advantage of an attacking overload by passing to a team mate; instead trying to take on one too many defenders and the move breaking down. This lead to West Moor scoring a few goals in quick succession, as they quickly counter attacked as our moves broke down.

Gracie kept on driving forward and was full value for her hat-trick and girl of the match performance. Alice was not far behind with a solid performance in defence, never afraid to put a tackle in.

Lessons from game:
Ruby McCourt’s starting positions were excellent when we were on the attack, sweeping up effectively several times
As a team we had most attacking joy when our defenders pushed up to the half way line when we attacked, provide attacking options and allowing us to sustain attacks if the opposition could only partially clear the ball
We need to recognise when we have an attacking over-load, sucking the defender in and releasing a team mate who is free
Midfielders need to work harder when we lose possession to get into a defensive shape and aid our defenders. I thought our defenders actually played well but we must defend as a team
If the opposition get into our defensive half of the field, our striker needs to use this opportunity to a) have a breather and b) identify the space to move into when the team regains possession to we can counter-attack quickly