Starlands preparation for this game was disrupted by the news Hafsar had been taken to hospital.
However, The Starlands girls were bouyed by the thought of playing a Marston Green Team who appeared to only have 5 players in the pre match warm up.
This transpired to be false hope...with Marston having a full team...and their numbers seemed sizeable in numbers and physical appearance.
From the off, Starlands broke forward but Marston soon made their presence felt and introduced themselves to the Starlands players in no uncertain terms.
The Starlands girls famous for their manners and sportsmanship were on the end of a lesson in mixing it.
Marston Green , bustled, pushed,pulled and knocked the Starlands girls off the ball.Even the bigger Starlands girls were finding it hard to live with the Wimbledon style play.
Even the supporters could not seem to stir the Starlands Team into retaliating and giving as good as they were given. Increasingly the supporters were becoming frustrated.
Twice the Marston Green No.11 Giant had her shots hit the side netting.
Holly was having a great game and seemed focused saving volleys and rebounds galore.
However, it was only a matter of time before the floodgates opened - and it was The No.11 who scored from poor defending , with Starlands failing to clear their lines.
The second goal, Holly was powerless to stop, despite her best efforts - she could only just get fingertips to the ball.It was a great strike and goal!
Starlands were all over the place - none of the girls seemed up for it. They had been taken by surprise and seemed frightened to fully commit themselves to the tackle.
The first half ended 2-0 - and to be fair it should have been more.
Becky got the girls together - and tried to make them understand 'positional sense' rather than the constant hunting in packs and all going for the same ball.
The second half,Holly launched a big kick but Rachel failed to get on the end of it and shot wide.
Marston came straight back - and Holly was quick off her line to save -but instead of picking the ball up she tried to kick it away. The play became stuck in the middle of the field , and finally Doctors daughter Loris took the intiative and gave Marston some of their own medicine back in a 50:50 challenge.With the Marston player down , the ball broke to Martha - who showed great individual skill to push forward.Just as she was about to pull the trigger she slipped - but she still got the shot away!...it curled round the keeper from the edge of the box! It was there...2-1 and Starlands were back in it.
In previous games Starlands are normally pulled back and play not allowed to continue - refreshingly the referee allowed play to continue and finally Starlands had the rub of the green and took full advantage.
Marston fans were incensed - and invaded the pitch.It was all off at Haydock, and once again The Starlands Girls were in a state of shock. The referee was being subjected to a torrent of abuse from the Marston man - quite unecessarily. Play was disrupted for a good 5 minutes - and whatever impetus Starlands had - was now gone! A poor display to show in front of so many young girls.
Somehow, the Marston supporter tried to justify his actions on behalf of both teams - harping back to how he called his team off kicking Georgia when she had the ball on her chest when lying on the floor. This just about summed up the difference in styles. But, whilst they may have been winning - there is more to life. Sometimes it just doesn't feel like it!?...(Parents Please Remember)
Marston from the resulting restart - went straight back down the other end and made it 3-1.
Finally some of the Starlands players were taking the hint and pushing Martson back. However at one Starlands corner - the referee actually spoke to Rachel. Quite clearly the intimidation was effecting all parties.
Marston went on to make it 4-1 in the last few moments.
Starlands - had well and truly learnt a few valuable lessons. They must learn -That as the season progresses IF they don't take things seriously and listen to Becky and work in training...they will find it hard.
This season is the school of hard knocks...and today they certainly got it! However, Remember girls The Bigger They are...The harder they Fall! Keep getting stuck in and don't give up! We're all behind you 100%
Girl Of The Game was given to Loris for Getting Stuck in and breaking up play that led to Martha's fine goal.
Goals - Martha (1)
