On a perfect autumn morning the two Mill Lane United u14 teams met for the second time in the league this season.
The opening fixture between the two sides resulted in the Yellows winning by a resounding 10 nil margin and the Blues were determined the result would not be repeated.The highly anticipated game kicked off in perfect conditions and both teams were hell bent on gaining the early advantage.
The tackles were flying in with the Blues first to every ball as they tried to unsettle their high flying rivals. The game was end to end as both teams probed for the opening goal.The yellows were first to strike when a run by winger Charlotte Holliday was carried on by Yellows captain Emma Johnson whose cross found striker Grace Fletcher in space in the area ,and a first time shot was smashed into the net to give the Yellows a 1 0 lead in 10 minutes.
Credit to the Blues who came back to exert some pressure on the Yellows,but this was well dealt with by the Yellows defence with Amy Radford leading the way with some good cover defence and goal keeper Leah Shalgosky dealing with two long range efforts from the Blues.
The Yellows were looking a little bit heavy legged against their energetic opponents, but still had the class to extend their lead on 25 minutes. A brave challenge by midfielder Tonya Wild Storr won the ball on half way quickly passing the ball on to midfielder Emma Johnson who in turn provided the killer ball to release a rampaging Holliday into space on the edge of the area before slotting the ball passed an advancing keeper to give the Yellows a 2 nil lead.
The rest of the half was much the same with the Blues sticking to their defensive formation and concentrating on trying to keep the score down.As the game ticked towards half time the Yellows scored again when midfield dynamo Emma Smith finally broke free of her marker to release striker Marie Russell on the left,Russell quickly cut inside before a clinical finish to the near post gave the Yellows a slightly fortunate 3 0 interval lead.
The Yellows were a little disappointed with their first half efforts against a very committed team and coach Tony Storr asked for extra energy levels and desire for the second half.The response was immediate when 2 quick fire goals from Charlotte Holliday killed of the Blues brave challenge ,the first after quick inter play by impressive debutante Morgan Nagee and Marie(Misty)Russell got the ball to Holliday inside the area and the next the goal of the game,a throw out by goalkeeper Shalgosky found Holliday in space a quick fire pass released Smith over half way , quickly getting the ball under control before releasing Russell into the penalty area and Russell hit a powerful shot which was parried by the Blues keeper straight into the path of a supporting Holliday who hit the ball into the empty net to complete a deserved hattrick and give the yellows a 5 nil lead.
The yellows were now well on top as their opponents first half efforts started to take it toll and the next 10 minutes belonged to Emma Johnson as she completed a quick fire hatrick thanks to assists by Morgan Nagee and 2 by Grace Fletcher seeing the Yellows well in command at 8 nil with 15 minutes to go.
The final ten minutes saw the Yellows score two more goals from Grace Fletcher( after a Johnson corner) giving her 2 for the game after a hard working performance and the Yellows final goal from Emma Smith after a 30 yard shot giving them a 10 nil lead going into the final 5 minutes.Credit to the Blues although totally outclassed and given a lesson in finishing they still had the energy to score a consolation goal with the last play of the game with a tremendous header from Nat Bell from a well worked free kick.
The final whistle went with the final score Mill Lane Blues 1 Mill Lane Yellows 10 giving the Yellows their 5th high scoring victory on the trot and another 3 points in the knowledge that their first half performance was not up to their usual high standards ,but as soon as the second half started normal service was resumed and they blew their brave opponents away.
Man of the matches for the Yellows went to defender Amy Radford for a strong tackling display despite carrying an injury into the game and new signing Morgan Nagee for some good ball distribution throughout the game.
Final Score: Mill Lane United Blues 1 Mill Lane United Yellows 10
