A beautiful morning to play some football, with a cloudless sky to welcome the Lionesses to the Pavilion at Pitstone and Ivinghoe. This was a first match out for the newly formed P&I team, and we had a feeling it was going to be a challenging morning with a couple of key Lionesses missing. Unfortunately, our inkling was correct and the Lionesses were defeated soundly with a 6-0 loss (but we’re going to unofficially call it a 4-0 loss for reasons I will explain later on).
The first quarter started with a loss of the coin toss and an unmarked pitch, which didn’t help matters. A strong and tall P&I team launched off with confidence and an early attack on goal did little to calm the Lionesses nerves – the shot went wide but it was a sign of what was to come. Lilly-Rose bravely stepped in as keeper for the first half, and wasn’t shy about coming forward to grab the ball out of play and give direction to her teammates. A few minutes later, a P&I player put in a long but powerful shot from outside the box to score their first.
The less said about the second quarter, the better. Needless to say, the blue and whites managed to get four goals past us, but two of them were from strong and long throw-ins towards the goal that barely touched a player – unlucky, but it’s all a good learning curve. Massive props to Lilly-Rose who was amazingly resilient in the face of such bad luck – well done Lilly.
Another P&I goal in the middle of the quarter took the score to 5-0 and the Lionesses were understandably shaky. After a bit of a regroup, the girls started to play better football and to look ahead to where they were passing, with some more tactical play being made – all in all, the girls were less despondent and much more determined. Emma did a great run through the middle to try and score, but it just went wide.
The third quarter started with some brilliant defensive play from Evie, Lilly-Rose and Maya, who had clearly listened to the team talk at half time. Amy bravely stepped in to be keeper for the second half and Hollie seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, buzzing around the P&I players like the best kind of annoying bee and winning the ball at every opportunity. Indie was on the wing, using the space and running down the line as they had practiced in training. Eden was keeping the P&I defenders busy, continually pressing forward to attack where she could.
You could see the passion in Lilly-Rose as she tried so hard to keep the ball at her feet, putting an amazing run in to strike hard and try for a goal, but it was saved by the keeper – there’s always a next time, Lilly-Rose!
The Lionesses were determined and awake now and managed to shake the negative scoreline off, as they played with grit and determination in the second half of the match. The last quarter saw another brilliant run on the wing from Emma, but she couldn’t get it through. Esme battled hard to keep the ball, not phased by the much taller opponents she was up against. Maya also tried her absolute best, blocking well and putting in a lot of hard graft as she ran up and down the pitch, supporting her teammates.
P&I scored their sixth and final goal of the match, and in fairness it was a lovely shot – looping past Amy with some decent power behind it. Even a more experienced keeper would have found that hard to save.
The Lionesses showed that they can defend well, only conceding one goal in the second half. With a bit more a tactical approach, looking ahead and better passing, todays score might have been a little different, but it’s important to lose as well as win. We go again, girls!
