UNDEFEATED U13’s WIN AGAIN
Eagles 61 - 19 Woodley
The final match! Undefeated Eagles take on mid-table Woodley Blue. The last time these two teams met Eagles defeated them with a comfortable 43 – 14. Can the Eagles improve on this and remain the only undefeated team in the U13s Berkshire League?
Q1.
Woodley have the first centre pass and the start of the game begins with some quick passing and an early goal from the Eagles GS Grace. Eagles are already dominating the first quarter with a lovely defensive interception from Keira which sets up the second goal for the Eagles with just a couple of minutes having passed. There is a positive buzz around the court and the Eagles are decisive and fluid in their passing in the first five minutes of play. Some silly mistakes from the team however see Woodley score their first goal, this only to fuel the energy back into the Eagles. With the Eagles placing pressure on Woodley, it makes it difficult for them to find players to pass and they are penalised for holding the ball beyond 3 seconds. Eagles take this advantage and beautiful passing to Grace between Izzy, Sophie and Lottie result in a further goal. Izzy holds the ball from going out of play with one hand and swiftly passes this to Grace who converts this to another goal. The play between the girls is fast paced and they are finding spaces and passing to each other with skill and a high degree of accuracy. Woodley are defending well but the Eagles show persistence and tenacity resulting in a breakthrough of the Woodley defence and another brilliant goal. Towards the end of this quarter Woodley want to cause Eagles difficulties by double marking Grace, but the Eagles attackers and centre come to her aid, passing high balls which Grace easily snatches from the air to score another goal. This quarter ends with Eagles ahead; Eagles 16 – 5 Woodley.
Q2.
The only change in the team is Izzy, who steps out as centre to make way for Amelia. The play is full of energy and Eagles are in control of the game and finding their way through the Woodley defence with relative ease during the first few minutes of this quarter. Woodley are working hard to break through the Eagles tight knit team and a couple of errors from the Eagles result in Woodley scoring a goal. However, the Eagles team are showing their strength in intercepting and applying pressure on the opposition. Anna is again proving to be an outstanding goal keeper and Sophie and Georgia show how to benefit from the Woodley team dropping the ball. Their quick thinking and action leads to further goals for the Eagles with some excellent goal scoring from Sophie. This quarter ends with Woodley managing 2 goals and the Eagles converting 21 goals; this quarter ends Eagles 37 – 7 Woodley.
Q3.
Eagles have come out to this quarter with a few changes to the team; Georgia and Anna swopping positions (GD and GK) and Izzy placed as WA. Woodley have come out in this quarter with a fighting edge to them and this is causing the Eagles to make a few silly mistakes. Woodley take advantage of this and score; keeping the pressure on the Eagles who have to defend hard. There are moments of the Eagles dropping of the ball and their play appears a little scrambled but a few words from the coach on the side-lines helps them get back into their rhythm and start claiming the goals to keep them ahead. This was a tough quarter with Woodley pulling back 6 goals to the Eagles 11. However, the Eagles remain ahead with 48 - 13 Woodley.
Q4.
This is the final quarter of the final match of the season and the Eagles have so far remained undefeated. The team make their final changes; with Grace off and replaced with Sophie as GS, Lottie as GA, Izzy as C and Amelia as WA. This quarter sees Woodley defending hard against the tenacious and unforgiving Eagles. The team appear a little tired as they play this last quarter and Woodley are pushing against the Eagles defence and score. Some encouragement on ‘one second passing’ from the coach sees the team pick up the pace a little and they manage to pull the scoring back and defend and attack well resulting in a final score of Eagles 61 – 19 Woodley.
This was an incredible match and all the girls demonstrated some fantastic ball skill, pace and team-working and each deserves recognition for their play today. Woodley voted Keira as their Player of the Match; and this is the 6th time this season she has been voted. Well done Keira.
The end to a very successful season for the girls playing and winning 10 matches; intact they have only lost one quarter all season. A remarkable achievement. Well done ALL.
