Denton Town 7 Droylsden 2 L/cup U12's

The scoreline may appear emphatic and the supporters may have been delirious at the final whistle but the stakes are high now and the coaching staff are raising the standards they expect from the girls. This was indeed an eye-catching result and there were some tremendous individual contributions yet it was made clear to the players after the contest that there are still areas of their performance that they need to strive to improve upon in the forthcoming weeks in readiness for the challenge awaiting them in the cup final.

Perhaps Nigel, Pete, Amy and I are being slightly too harsh in directing any criticism towards the team, after all they have produced a quite breathtaking sequence of results in 2008, however we all have faith in the ability of this set of girls and hold aspirations for them to produce their best football on a consistent basis and compete for more and more silverware.

Whilst the irrepressible Lauren was an absentee this morning the squad was boosted by the return from injury of Grace, eased back into the fold from the substitutes bench. Kendall, proving her flexibility once again, filled the vacant left midfield spot with Georgia, buoyed by a
superb display in midweek training, moved into the central role.

Denton made a stunning start, breaking forward from the kick-off with Kay cutting in from the left and crossing for Kylie to divert the ball in at the far post. Kay continues to constantly menace opposition defences with her willingness to dribble and her desire to score goals. She was destined to add to her seasons tally with a 4 goal haul in this match and a further 2 assists; an accomplishment that is to be applauded and inevitably earned her player of the match from Droylsden. Denton maintained the fast pace to the opening minutes and found themselves further ahead through Kay and then Kendall, who ghosted in unmarked at the far post to finish from Kay's low cross.

Droylsden finished bottom of the league table and also prop up the final position in the cup competition but they have shown a definite improvement in their results in recent weeks and contained a few dangerous players in their line-up who displayed much quality. In the closing
stages of the first half and certainly for the opening 7 or 8 minutes of the second Denton lost concentration and allowed their opponents a glimmer of hope in their quest to fightback from the 3-0 deficit. This has become a common trait over the past few weeks and is something
Amy and I will need to address prior to the cup final. From what appeared to be an insurmountable lead the girls suddenly allowed Droylsden more space and time and within 5 minutes of the restart the lead had been cut to 3-2.

For several minutes Denton appeared to totally lose their confidence and only a sensational goal line clearance from Teah prevented an equaliser. Indeed Teah and Emily at the back continued their fantastic run of form and both were outstanding once again today. The goalkeeper, Hannah, also deserves praise for her performance, she could do little to stop the efforts she conceded and her goal-kicking was much better. It was captain marvel Kendall who took responsibility to drag her team out of the mire. She collected the ball close to the half-way line, drove at the defence and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the bottom corner for her second of the game.

From there on in it was the Kay show. She struck a post but scored from the rebound, raced clear from Emily's clearance to claim her hatrick and then added a fourth for good measure after being released by Kendall's through-pass. In between she so nearly provided another for Grace who was expecting Kay to shoot herself and was taken by surprise when the ball fell to her infront of goal and the opportunity was denied.

It is now vital that all the girls attend the training sessions in the build up to next months final. The team is becoming an exciting one to watch and the aim is for them to get better and better with a view to mounting a strong challenge on all trophies next season.
Thanks again to Pete and Chloe for their input this morning and to Nigel and Amy for allowing me to be part of this. Also to the families for their great support as usual, I look forward to seeing you all with your red and black face paints on cup final day !!! Ha! Ha!

DROYLSDEN'S VOTE FOR PLAYER OF GAME: Kay. Well done Kay you must be the most dangerous striker in the league on this form.

RICK'S PLAYER OF THE GAME: I think Teah didn't put a foot wrong all match - awesome!! But it has to be Kay - 4 goals and 2 assists!!

RICK WATCH: As many of the girls ask me how I got on playing for Denton Town 1st X1 thought I'd add this new feature. We won today 5-0 against
Newton and I scored 2.

RICK.

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The scoreline says a very comfortable victory, but you didn't half do it the hard way. Coasting at 3-0, you seemed to switch off, lose your shape, and let Droylsden back into it. I've got to say, at 3-2, the next goal was crucial, and had Droyslden equalised, they would have fancied their chances of going on to win the game.

Having said that, some of the link up play was tremendous at times, and the game should of been put beyond Droylsden's reach on several occassions, as some clear cut chances went begging.

At the end of the day, "a win is a win" as they say, and I don't think in all the years I've been involved in girls football, have I ever seen a team turn their fortunes around so quickly.

The Final's on Sat 17th May at Oldham, time to be advised. You're playing Heyside Clarets, a strong team, who were lucky to beat us last week. The WHOLE LEAGUE will be cheering us on as Heyside the club, have so far, won every league, and every cup at ALL age levels this season, so its down to Denton and Oldham in another age group, to stop Heyside completing a very impressive whitewash.

WE ALL BELIEVE IN YOU! This is your moment. Seize the opportunity, and turn in a display your parents will be proud off, and come home with the trophy.

NIGEL.