Starlands St Anne's played Walsall Wood at Oak Park In a rearranged fixture.
The previous game was played on a very cold wet day at Aldridge school due to Walsall Woods pitch being waterlogged. Starlands found themselves taking an early lead but being dragged back finally losing the game 3-1 simply because we started with 10 players and went down to 7 with hypothermia kicking in.
No such repeat this evening, it was a lovely sunny evening ..and the switched venue of Walsall Wood 1st XI pitch was in tip top condition.
The crowd gathered was probably the biggest Starlands had played in front of....what a venue...dug outs, stands...and a bar afterwards !....Alongside Redditch my favourite venue..with the added bonus of less distance to travel. Lol.
Anyway,Starlands were without Amber ( Brothers Birthday ) & Samantha who was ill...and still is!....but with everyone else present and a guest player (aka Frosty) allowed to play with the permission of Walsall Wood we were up to 12 for this end of season bonanza....
It was always going to be a tough game. Walsall Wood were secured in 2nd position , narrowly missing out on the league title. They had already beaten us, and are always up for playing us in their local derby.
Walsall Wood are not only a big team but well drilled, fast and competitive.
We were playing in our favoured Pink kit ( sponsored by Trophystore.co.uk)
The starting eleven were Holly (Capt), back four of Chloe, Laurice,Beth and Alex.
The midfield were Hannah, Zohra,Kiera and Grace.Toni started upfront alongside Olivia.
On the bench was Frosty....keen to get on the pitch and make an impression having played all season in goal.
The game started with Starlands taking early possession but it was not long before the Walsall Wood midfield were taking the game to Starlands.
Before not too long Toni had dropped into midfield to try and pick up the ball. This left Olivia as a lone striker battling away to hold the ball up and allow the midfield to provide support. This was no mean feat with the sizeable central defence partnership of Walsall Wood.
In the early encounters Toni was getting on the ball and laying short passes off to Kiera, Zohra and Grace. But that killer pass was always intercepted.
Beth was once again playing in her uncustomary position of centre back to provide a little more pace at the back to support Laurices strength. Chloe and Alex were playing as wing backs and sticking to their defensive duties admirably. All four were keeping the prolific Walsall Wood strikers in check. Every time they pursued the player never giving up and closing down the ball to prevent crosses into the box.
Holly was off her line on more than one occasion to bravely come out and smash the ball clear...thank goodness no players collided....
Walsall Wood took the lead from Starlands failure to clear the ball...and the second goal was a carbon copy. Too often it's silly little mistakes that have punished us. Saying that,...with the amount of pressure we frequently come under our defence and keeper do us proud week in week out.
Grace was complaining about her ankle pre kick off so a precautionary early substitution allowed us to make an assessment on her fitness. Not a decision we took lightly due to the excellent form of Grace this season.
There was a bonus,...in it allowed us to see at first hand the undoubted talents of our guest player for the evening who will be called frosty for this article. ( ask her why ).
We were lucky enough to be granted special dispensation by the opposition to experiment with our team. Partly I don't think they ever thought we would trouble them...and if I am totally honest I am not sure I did....but what I love about our girls is THEY NEVER EVER ROLL OVER...100% effort played with a smile. Time and time again this gets us through!
And do it proved again.
Olivia was the first to nearly score, with a tremendous hustling bustling run. Going up against Stacey shoulder to shoulder ...as she ever nearer closed in on goal. Stacey took a tumble and once again if Olivia had been less strong she would have gone down in the penalty box. The referee later stated he would have had no option than to award a penalty and send off the Walsall Wood defender. To Olivia 's credit she stayed up and narrowly shot wide...
It was frosty's chance next, and after some tricky work in the box she volleyed a bouncing ball..Managing to get a shot away which went across the face of the goal...it could have easily been 2-2
The half finished with Grace coming back on and Toni taking a spell on the bench as she appeared to run out of steam and was finding it hard against the bigger girls.
Kiera was back to early season form sticking to her midfield role, she chased down the ball and made some lovely runs up the wing,simply lacking a little ball control. With the ball pushed too far ahead of her the opposition picked up the ball bringing her penetrating runs to an end before she passed the ball through to our forwards.
Hannah and Zohra were breaking up play in midfield and were denying Walsall any time on the ball. We were doing a great job of denying them space and not letting them play the football they wanted to.
After a quick turn around Starlands were coming into the game more and more.
Georgiamai was making some great runs down the left wing m but Alex was having an excellent game and was giving her all. Tracking back, tackling, blocking, covering for team mates and then setting up Grace in midfield. Really great performance.
Frosty was helpings out in defence this second half and her ability to kick the ball really gave the back four some breathing space by clearing the lines.
Hannah was pushed back into midfield to allow Beth to move upfront and try and help Olivia out. We had denied Walsall Wood opportunities , we were still well in the game and now it was our opportunity to get that elusive goal or two...
It soon came, a long ball over the top from the back bounced just inside the Walsall half, Beth was on it immediately and strode towards the goal as the ball continued to bounce forward. She wrapped her boot through the ball and smashed it into the corner ! 2-1 brilliant goal...and really pleasing for a girl who hasn't had much luck in front of goal recently. Without a shadow a player who is capable of quality goals like amber and Olivia on a weekly basis.
With added belief and only a goal behind Starlands were up for it. Walsall were a little rattled...their chances weren't going their way...Holly was collecting the ball time after time. Everyone was doing their job superbly.
With about 10 minutes left , Starlands pushed up. Another high through ball allowed Beth to go one on one with the defender. Beth dropped her shoulder and the defender fell , Beth took an instinctive opportunity and hit a dipping volley just over the bar !...soooooo close....it could have been 2-2 , that would have made my season, alas it didn't go in...and the referee blew for a foul?!....I think he was relieved the shot didn't go in too !....there may have been a riot.
Starlands saw the game out...to lose 2-1. Yes, Walsall were the better footballing team but Starlands girls showed everyone what big hearts they have and just what they are capable of against yet another top team.
With Frosty clearly adding some experience and strength to the team, it gave the girls some extra confidence...who knows what the future holds ??...but , a few new summer signings could really push us on for next season. We'll see 😊
Girl of the game was awarded to Alex making her the third girl to be awarded x3 girl of the game awards this season. A special guest trophy to Frosty was awarded.
Other stand out performances went to Olivia,Beth, Laurice,Chloe and Kiera. But, all the girls played fantastically ...and I am sure every supporter were as pleased as I was.
Thank you to our hosts for the post match hospitality...very nice and good luck in the premiership next year.
There will be a tournament on Sunday 17th may in D
