Wednesday 22 January 2014

Match Report - Oxford City 2 vs Didcot 2

City 2 won 12-8

City 2 are in the driving seat in the battle for 2nd spot in division 2 after a good 12-8 win against a strong Didcot 2 side; it was the best way to start 2014, and our record for the season reads: played 6, won 4. Didcot beat us 8-4 earlier in the season. Our win, coupled with Didcot 2's subsequent 7-7 draw with Isis 2 gives us a little bit of breathing space in our quest for second place (Abingdon 2 being perhaps just out of reach at the top of the division, but mathematically it is still possible - you just never know....)

There were a substantial number of positives - 12 is our highest tally this season, the goals were well spread amongst the team and the contribution of Alex (who I thought played really well in attack, always looking to create scoring chances, a few of which he took, and a few more which on another day would have dropped) and Ellie (what a debut!) were noteworthy. Charlotte hasn’t lost her scoring touch either. Nor has Dan, who looked lively despite playing all but five minutes of the first team’s earlier match.

The second half was a bit tougher than the first. Didcot brought on a few first team players, who gave us a few problems and cut a six goal lead down to four, but despite a valiant late rally couldn't get the goal that would have secured them a bonus point. We deserved the win based upon the first half alone, which was really good. It is encouraging to see things which we’ve worked on in training coming to fruition, particularly shooting (a bugbear for coaching co-ordinators as long as I’ve been at the club) and we seem to be creating space much better than we were at the beginning of the season.

I haven’t really had to think that hard about our Player of the Match – for me, it was Ellie. She fitted into the team really well (and helped herself to a couple of goals too!), run fairly close by Alex, who did really well in both attack and defence.

Thanks,

Simon (Oxford City 2 Captain)

Offical MVP - N/A (Didcot were so traumatised that they a) forgot to nominate an MVP, and b) got the score wrong!!)
Goals - Simon (3), Charlotte (3), Dan (2), Ellie (2!!), Alex (1)