Ladies 4s v Ross High

This match report is brought to you by the letters D.R.T.Y and the number 1.

Todays match against Ross High was a hard fought, bad-tempered affair. Yet despite the threat of cards (real) and knuckle dusters (imagined) Ladies 4s were once again up to the job.

It began well. High pressing from our holy trinity of forwards: Julia, Holly and Olivia, was rewarded with a short corner in the first 5 minutes. With the season at the halfway point, the mythical Killer K™ move between Jenny and Olivia FINALLY bore fruit and Jenny swept the ball into the net. Unfortunately the goal was disallowed for landing on the backboard rather than hitting it outright. An early sign perhaps, that this match was going to be a toughie.

We continued to press: our trademark passing, dribbling and shots were all strong in the opposition D. But resolute defending and some fine goalkeeping prevented us finding a way through. Eventually a strong run up the right from Olivia found Julia in space who controlled the ball and nutmegged the keeper. Boom!

It was far from one-way traffic though, and Judith, Tammy and Zoe made some great covering tackles. We went into halftime somewhat nervously with just a one goal cushion.

In the second half, simmering tension exploded when our feisty redhead took on their feisty redhead, and won. Holly had been getting the better of Ross High’s ginger defender for most of the first half and after an exchange of words, the umpire took both skippers to one side and said any further handbags would mean a card for the team captain.

Jodie behind bars is obviously Becca’s dearest wish, since all of 5 seconds later she was called over to the umpire to explain her motivational cry. I think we can all agree that Becca, of all people, needs to get a fecking handle on her aggressive attitude. Let this serve as a timely reminder, Parker! It’s the quiet ones you have to watch. ;-)

The atmosphere cooled and we did well to keep our heads and our focus in an increasingly hostile game. The youthful trio of Lucy, Catriona and Alex led the way in staying calm. Ross High’s key player had been Holly’s ginger nemesis and, as tiredness set in, it was her mistake which led to the second goal. Her mis-control allowed Olivia to pounce and smoothly slot the ball beyond the keeper - to everyone’s relief.

When the whistle blew at 2-0, we felt a bit like we’d seen frontline warfare (except for Judith who was continuing her, er, dicussions with the umpire.) Such a tough test will only make 4s stronger. Expect Ross Kemp to be filming the return fixture in March.

MOTM: Jenny
DOTD: Fraser, and his missing baws.