Back to winning ways

I’ve had a couple of slack weeks where I’ve not written a report. Luckily we didn’t play on one of those, so I only have one match to catch up on.

We were playing York on the 18th November away. We play 2 York teams, this was the better one of the two. We knew they’d beaten their other team 9-1 when we’d only managed 4-0 so we thought we would have a game on our hands.

The game started and it was clear that York were strong and out for the win, the game was end to end. We were getting some good attacks in though, but struggling to take advantage of any time in the circle.

Our great use of space and good marking, led by Fretters, meant we were closing down the York attacks and keeping the ball under control.

We had a couple of short corners, but it was in the third one, Linda hit the ball in and Newby was able to steer it goalwards for the first GOAL of the game 1-0 Batley.

The game stayed this was until half time, in the second half we were buoyed by our lead and Gail, needing to keep herself top of the scoring table got the second GOAL for Batley. 2-0.

With 8 minutes to go, Vicky went in hard for a tackle causing the ball to lift into the air and hit her in the face. She had to have some emergency dental work, but she’s back smiling beautifully now you’ll all be glad to know.

That meant we needed to fight hard in the last 8 minutes, we weren’t going to lose it without our captain on the pitch. After a couple of tense minutes while we regrouped and figured out new positions we had a great attack, Ashleigh got on a cross into the circle and scored the third GOAL for Batley.

The game ended 3-0, MOM went to Vicky who had been having an awesome game before her unfortunate early departure from the pitch.

Fast forward to this week. We were playing Leeds Uni 6 away at Leeds, on that waterbased pitch that we’ve admitted defeat on so many times. We also play Leeds Uni 5 in this league, but their 6th team is higher in the league, so we weren’t sure what to expect.

We started off and realised that were had a game on our hands. The ball was bouncing strangely due to the surface of the pitch, but it seemed to be affecting both teams equally. We quickly found our marks and got into the match, realising that we could go in strong on the tackles and win the ball.

Despite getting a flick early on in the first half, we got to half time and it was still 0-0. I was worried, usually we lose to the uni teams when their fitness is better than ours in the second half.

I shouldn’t have been though, we got it together in the second half and played our game, taking it round the Leeds players with well placed 1-2’s. Kim quickly took worked the ball into the circle and had a shot on GOAL. 1-0 to Batley.

This set the pace, we were on it now and the second GOAL followed quickly worked into the net by Rach, who was playing her first game for us this season. 2-0 Batley.

We continued to dominate the game in the second half, shutting down the Leeds attacks and not allowing the ball through. Fretters had our marking under control as usual. This allowed us to go in and make attack after attack on goal. Kim found her way through in a quick break and made it 3-0 to Batley with her second GOAL of the game.

The game ended 3-0, MOM went to Fretters who was all over the pitch and fantastic.

Next week we have 2 matches and our christmas parties. I’m unsure whether I’ll be capable of writing a report by the end of it. Watch this space...