The Lionesses travelled to Bletchley to play a ‘gem’ of a match against the MK Emeralds – a game that showed some serious progress from our girls in green, excellent sportswomanship from both sides, and a tense but exciting finish with a penalty shoot-out.
After giving it the full FA Cup treatment with a team line up to shake hands at the start of the match, Eden and Emma were straight in with some brilliant attacking play, making sure that the ball was on the right side of the halfway line in the first quarter. Eden put an early strike in, showing just how much her confidence has grown, but it just went wide.
The Emeralds fought back, but some excellent team chat from Olivia kept the defensive line strong with Evie and Crouchy kicking the ball out of danger at every opportunity. Amy’s courage is growing with every match too, and she battled hard to gain and keep possession.
Emma used her incredible speed to put in some storming runs up the line, but the Emeralds defended well, cutting her off. Hollie was speedy too, intercepting every single opposition pass in the midfield and zooming through the players to get the ball back to Emma. The Greens couldn’t quite get passed to score… yet.
Eden had a determined glint in her eye and with support up the wing from Emma, she got a shot on goal that was saved by the keeper. However, the deflection gave her a second chance and she got a cheeky one past, giving us an early lead.
Lily-Rose was also putting in the miles, running the line and brilliantly intercepting an Emeralds corner. Both teams were well-matched today, with some excellent defensive prowess on show from both sides.
The second quarter saw a little bit more action in each of the boxes. Olivia made a great save early on, and Eden tried for another which just went wide again. Maya made a great interception and won some serious battles on the pitch today, chasing down every threat that came her way.
An Emerald corner prompted another brave save from Olivia, showing real determination to throw herself on that ball whenever she could. Hollie and Emma were putting the pressure on in midfield, with some great runs on the wing from Esme, using her speed, size and agility to get past.
Hollie put in a powerful shot that was brilliantly saved by the Emeralds keeper. Eden went for it again, but it was saved. Evie shut down a great run from an Emeralds player who intercepted a Lionesses corner and tried to take advantage.
The second half ended with a lovely shot on goal from Emma, but the keeper saved it.
So, with the Lionesses still one goal up, we knew the Emeralds would be determined to fight back and equalize in the second half. A few minutes in, the opposition were scrapping in our box and Olivia took a tumble trying to get the ball. Unfortunately, they seized the opportunity and got one past, bringing the score level.
The Greens were not deterred – Crouchy and Lily-Rose did some fantastic defending, with Lily- Rose putting in another great run up the wing, forcing the keeper to come out to meet her and make the save. A brief bit of respite from all the excitement came when a nearby bush decided to eat the ball, but the ref braved the prickles and managed to extricate it to play on. No goals in the third quarter but both teams were working very hard to try and get the decider past the net.
The final quarter brought even more determination from the girls, with Maya and Evie grafting hard to defend the box. A great throw from Olivia was used to full advantage by Lily-Rose but the Emerald defensive line thwarted another great run from her.
Eden threatened to score twice, but both attempts were saved. An Emerald player used the deflection to storm back up the pitch with an impressive run, and almost got it past Olivia but she was there like a flash and the ball hit the right post and bounced away.
The game finished with a draw, but Coach Darren explained that it was a cup game, so we needed to go to penalties – for some of the Lionesses this was their first penalty experience, but they were brave, determined and ready to give it their all. The parents less so – we were biting our nails…
Emma was up first and put in a beaut of a strike to make it 1 penalty to us.
The Emerald shot hit the crossbar. Eden’s shot was next but was saved.
The next few shots from both the Emeralds and Lionesses were also saved by two very brave keepers. Then the Emeralds managed to score their first bringing it to 1-1. TENSE!
Lily-Rose’s shot went wide, but Olivia saved another! YES OLIVIA!
Crouchy’s shot was tantalising close, but hit the bar. Olivia saved another shot from the Emeralds. Esme’s shot was saved, but so was the next Emerald strike. And then up stepped Amy, cool as a cucumber and banged a lovely goal in that almost knocked the keeper over – 2-1 to the Lionesses! And then Olivia triumphed with yet another penalty save that meant we won on penalties and earned her Player of the Match. What a fantastic game!
