That week we all froze to death
- Gemma Elsworth
- Dec 15, 2015
- 3 min read
Having played so well last week against Leeds Uni last week, we were hoping for a better performance against Leeds than we had earlier in the season (you can read about that here).
We had a team of 15, so the only thing to worry about was the weather. It was horrible, freezing cold torrential rain!
Things didn’t start well, first we were locked out of the changing rooms, so ended up stood around in the rain until the caretaker turned up, then it turned out that our umpire had let us down. We were organising two, but one had been cancelled for a game later in the day and thought it meant she was cancelled for us too. This meant that someone had to umpire from the team. Vicky and Gail volunteered to do half a game each. I cannot stress more how grateful we are to you both for doing this, umpiring is not easy, especially when you don’t really know all the rules properly! None of us really wanted to do it.
The rain didn’t stop for the entire match, so before long we were drenched and frozen. We started off strongly, and whilst Leeds are undoubtedly a very talented team, we weren’t being outplayed like we were last time. We were moving the ball around and trying to make the most of the space. Leeds had some good strong attacks, but we were strong with Fretters making a debut as centre back!
It soon became clear that Leeds were very forthcoming in their opinions on our playing style and the umpires decisions. Only a short way in to the match the umpire had to stop play to warn the Leeds players about their attitude.
We were managing to have some good attacks on Leeds, but not capitalising on our few scoring opportunities. It was on the break that Leeds got their first chance on our goal, a scramble saw the ball go over the line, but the umpire had already called a short corner so the goal didn’t stand. I’m kind of glad they got the short, because the goal they scored off it was brilliant. A fast, straight strike in to the net. We didn’t have much hope of stopping it. Much more satisfying than the scrappy chance beforehand. 1-0 to Leeds.
The first half ended just as wet and cold as it had begun, Vicky switched with Gail as umpire and Gail got straight in to the game in the second half, making great runs down the pitch and giving us some chances.
Leeds still had chances of their own and some amazing stops from Dannii in defence kept the goals at bay. Fretters still managed to be all over the place and make some great plays. Leeds did manage to get a second goal early on in the second half, they had a slight advantage as their pass didn’t travel 5 before entering the D, but they weren’t quite so keen on pointing out the rules in this situation.
There’s only one thing worse than a bad loser, and that’s a bad winner. I really wonder how bad the complaints are in matches that they actually lose.
By the end of the game, the pitch was flooded, I couldn’t feel my fingers and we were all just glad to go inside! The next game got called off because of the state of the pitch.
MOM went to Dannii for her outstanding performance in defence! Next week we play Adel at home, without Vicky. She’s going to Australia. Did you know?
Saturday night was the night of our chrsitmas party. Some people may have drunk a little too much. I may have been one of those people. we had a very nice curry at Lalas in Batley and spent the rest of the time upsetting the regulars in our pub.
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