Mostyn Valley 5 Denton Town 0 (u12's)

Hi girls, sorry to hear your mini revival come to an end, but after speaking to Amy and reading Rick's report, it sounds as if you should of got something out of the game. Never mind, at least you now know you can win matches, and this little set back shouldn't get in your way of continued improvement.

NIGEL.

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An ex-professional player turned TV-pundit once claimed "It's a funny old game". How right he was!! I am obviously totally biased but even those most ardent of Moston Villa supporters would have to admit that Denton played the more attractive football, created more opportunities and had the majority of the possession. This was just one of those bizarre contests when the final result defied the story of the game. Full credit to Moston Villa, they played to their strengths and, more importantly, they took their chances but this could so easily have been a very different tale. You just knew it was going to be one of those days when, after a promising start for Denton, Villa snatched the advantage with the most fortunate of goals as a corner kick caught a gust of wind and blew the ball straight past Hannah.
The match continued in this vein. Everything struck by a Denton player was saved, blocked or went just inches past the net.
Moston Villa played counter-attacking football reliant on a long ball straight down the centre where they had mostly kept 3 players forward and our inability to get back and defend this tactic consequently proved our undoing. Nevertheless it was a harsh result to say the least. Whilst Hannah also produced a couple of great saves, and bravely lasted the entire match despite picking up 2 nasty injuries, the opposition keeper was by far the busier. Kay's performance was a mirror of her appearance last week. She was full of desire and unquestionably had the better of the Villa defenders when the ball was at her feet. She is blessed with undoubted ability and will continue to improve. When she learns to make the correct decision of when to shoot, dribble or pass then she is destined to compete with the best around. Lauren, too, has exciting potential. In possession she is very tricky and confident but like many of the girls needs to focus on her concentration for the entire match. Despite failing to score these two were a constant menace to Moston Villa. Georgia, Grace and Kylie were others who threatened to breach the opposition defence on numerous occasions; Georgia letting fly with one rasping effort in particular in the second half which would have ripped the net open had it been a couple of inches lower.
Kendal was again captain of the team. It amazes me that she is a school year younger than her colleagues. She has all the attributes to develop into a tremendous player - speed, stamina, strength, power and her reading of the game is superb. She proved her importance by filling the central midfield role in the first half then was equally as solid at the heart of the defence in the second. She came as close as anyone to scoring for Denton when the keeper somehow clawed away her thunderous drive early on. Emily and Teah also continue to impress; in fact despite the scoreline I think this was the best I have seen Teah perform in the 4 weeks I have been involved. She made a number of last-ditch tackles to prevent their forwards from having a clean shot at target and played with real bravery. Emily also has a fantastic ability to tackle and to clear danger; I also think she can probably throw the ball further than I can!! We will work on her positioning over the forthcoming months and next season I believe we will see the benefits.
The team should certainly not be too dis-heartened by this result. The potential is definitely there and if each player demonstrates the hunger to learn and progress then there will be more victories than defeats ahead!

Rick