26 Nov 2005, Girls U13: Sale Utd 6 – 4 Oswald Rd (HT:2-4)

1^st half: The game started off brilliantly, we had the ball nearly all the time, and Sale couldn’t get the ball off us!! Maniac kicked the ball out to Giant, she ran with it and then passed it to Jammy who then dribbled it passed 2 of Sales players, she then passed it to L.P (she was in the box) who shot the ball into the back of the net!! 1-0 to Oswald Rd!! From the centre kick Sale had the ball they were playing it up, no. 7 had a shot but defender Caution got in the way, she got the ball and kicked it out to Jammy who ran all the way into the box, she dribbled past all their defence and slid the ball neatly into the back of the net!! 2-0 to Oswald Rd!! Centre kick, Sale had the ball again but not for long, Loony got in the way of a Sale player, making the Sale player losing the ball. Giant got the ball and passed it across to Jammy, she ran to the wing and crossed it into the box where L.P was, she kicked it, their goalie saved it but she got the rebound, it flew into the net!! 3-0 to Oswald Rd!! Sale got their revenge by scoring a goal in the last few minutes to half time. 3-1 to Oswald Rd. Sale started catching up. They scored 1 more goal, which was a fluky goal. 3-2 to Oswald Rd. Maniac had the ball for a goal kick, she kicked it to Caution who then (following her managers instruction) ran down the field all the way to the corner flag and crossed it in to L.P, she shot but the goalie only just saved it, the ball came back out and Caution got the ball and she managed to get past one of Sales defenders and pass the ball to L.P who tapped it into the bottom corner of the net!! 4-2 to Oswald Rd!!

2^nd half: Shelly and Corina swapped Jammy and Noodles, so that Noodles was up front and Jammy was at the back with Caution, they said we would have a strong defence. Sale got a couple more messy goals and we missed some chances. Maniac was doing brilliant in goal but they had too many shots. Shelly and Corina changed the formation again a bit. They put Loony and Noodles in defence, Rayne and Caution in midfield and L.P and Giant up front. But we were unlucky Sale slipped away 2 more goals. Ozzie Girls were unlucky but we played brilliantly and skilfully. WELL DONE GIRLS!!!!

by Caution (Hanaan)

Before the game, both teams gathered round the centre circle and held a minute’s silence for George Best. This turned out to be a very close game despite the opening – Ozzie Girls swept to a 3 goal lead after some great work by Rayne and the midfield, getting the ball to Molly in great positions. Perhaps this made us take our foot off the pedal because Sale tried harder and we lost our way (players and managers both!). The second goal in particular was excellent - a George Best style dribble from Rayne who totally confused the defence and then slotted home a good shot past the goalie. After we got the 3 goal lead, Sale stepped up the pressure and hit the post and crossbar. They finally got one through our defences but we replied almost straightaway with beautiful flowing passing and dribbling between our midfield and attack, ending with a sharp goal from Molly – her hat-trick! We then had to withstand some more fierce attacks from Sale, and eventually gave away a dubious penalty. Roberta stayed calm and didn’t commit until the Sale player hit it – and saved the penalty with her left boot! Sale managed to get another good goal before the end of the first half. The second half was nowhere as good as the first half – we seemed to be too complacent even though Sale played even better. They brought on their rested best players and moved the ball into attack quickly whereas we had no substitutes and were getting tired, the defence was often left outnumbered as midfield were left behind by Sale. We rejigged the team, trying to strengthen defence but ended up confusing players. Roberta made some great saves – one a full length dive to her left, turning a ball round for a corner. We did make some good chances but the ball seemed to just miss the goal, or their goalie saved securely. We then gave away two very silly goals, defence messing about passing between themselves instead of clearing to midfield or attack and the ball was nicked by Sale’s players and smacked into our goal. Sale carried on and so did we – both teams made chances but Sale put theirs’ away and we didn’t. Sale’s two goals final were very good goals, one a planned play from a corner to a midfield player who whacked it in through stationary Oz players, and the other a great shot at an angle past a defender marking tight and into the corner of the goal. A close game, we could have won but they probably just shaded it.

by Kamal Hashmi

Oppositions’ Player of the Match: Rayne Allman

Managers/Players’ Player of the Match: Molly Rourke

Goals: 1^st half – Molly, Rayne, Molly x2