Date: 18/02/2007
Game: Garston 3rds v BAWFC Reserves
Author: Julia
Player(s) of the match: Belinda, Carolyn, Geesje, Jenny, Julia, Karen, Kirsty, Lee, Suzie (Anyone get the feeling the POTM votes were fixed?)

As with last time mention of the game is kept to a minimum although it may break records as the longest report ever.

Due to midweek and Sunday morning dropouts the reserves had to play with only 9 this week. However, we didn't allow that or the fact that the opposition had failed to mention that the school we were playing at was on both sides of the road and both sides had football pitches (so half our players were on one side of the road and half the other) to dim our enthusiasm.

And what a fit and bright lot we had: 2 suffering from hangovers and 1 other who had been car sick on the way (i'm sure Belinda's driving was blameless, although passengers in her car from now on may want to provide their own carrier bags just in case) - although news I have received since the game seems to suggest that this car sickness was at least partly due to a hangover..... However, the best of the bunch was the player who arrived with a potential foot injury - and how had this injury been gained - by over straining herself at training?; by rushing to rescue a cat from in front of a speeding car?; no - she'd done it walking across her lounge.... You have all been warned most accidents happen at home - so please invest in a wheelchair and use that to get around in instead. (All names have been removed to stop them being laughed at, but for a fee I am willing to name and shame).

Last time we played Garston away we unfortunately didn't play on a football pitch, but instead in a mud bath. In fact in one goal mouth we'd even worked through the mud and were playing on stones. This week to our joy we were at a different pitch and we could even see grass (along with many plastic bottles and discarded fast food containers by the side of the pitch - it's always nice to see a well cared for ground). As we warmed up we noticed that actually the grass was just to fool us as large parts of the pitch were made up of sand and the bobble on the pitch was impressive (please remember this fact as i'll be using that excuse later on in my report). This was especially true in the goal mouths and someone did suggest we built a wall to protect the goal. However, we had come unprepared (no buckets and spades) so were unable to use this cunning plan.

It's always slightly worrying when the opposition has more supporters than we have players, plus 2 coaches (which I think was showing off slightly). Regardless of these issues we started the game strongly and it was hard to tell which team had more players. In fact the only goal scored in the first 30 minutes was an unfortunate own goal by Belinda who could do nothing about a ball that hit her from close range but watch as it rebounded into the goal. Having said that it is pretty much a rite of passage for all reserve defenders to score an own goal - so welcome to the club!

I had successfully managed at least 4 games in a row without a head injury - obviously I had escaped for too long as a 1 on 1 half way through the first half rectified that when after I'd collected the ball I was hit by the strikers foot/shin/knee. I'm sure she did come over to check I was ok and I just didn't hear her as I was a bit dazed.... Therefore I take no responsibility for any goals scored after that due to the headache I then had - and especially not the second goal which bobbled past me (see it's all the pitches fault) even though I seemed to have my whole body behind it.... I will though be attempting to reinstate my campaign for all goal keepers to be allowed to wear motorcycle helmets!

Half time arrived with us all being in positive spirits. Although the opposition were ahead (by a few goals) we had played well and the team spirit was high. One of the oppo's coaches came over and praised us and gave some advice for the second half - maybe he'd heard we're looking for a new coach and was using this opportunity as a job interview? We did decide to change our formation to try and take advantage of the success Karen had in the first half when she put pressure on their defence and keeper (she was very unlucky not to score when she charged down a kick from the keeper). Therefore we moved to a tactic that worked well for the Wimbledon team circa the 1980s (for those of you too young to know about the Crazy Gangs worrying successful period in football history ask your parents). So we had 3 at the back, 1 holding midfielder to whack the ball as far as possible and 4 up front, although as we pointed out to them yes they did still have to come back and defend.

During the second half Garston took advantage of our tired limbs to score goals. However, their apparent failure to understand the offside rule did help to break up a number of promising attacks that they had (note to anyone who is unsure on this rule, if you are clean through and decide to pass to a team mate who is ahead of you, they will be called offside EVERY time).

However, it wasn't all one way traffic with our new tactic leading to us having a decent amount of possession in the Garston half and led to us forcing 2 corners (the celebration from our team when we won the first one was more than some teams can manage when they score a goal).

The final whistle brought an enjoyable game (despite the score line) to an end. Every BA player has every right to be proud of the dedication and passion they displayed out on the pitch:
Suzie & Lee - great tracking back with the speedy Garston wingers stopping them getting crosses in
Kirsty and Belinda - strong leading of the defence and I lost count of how many blocks you both got in. In the 2nd half Kirsty's move up to our solitary midfield player allowed her to spray passes forward at will and Belinda coped superbly in her new sweeper role at breaking up so many attacks
Geesje, Jenny and Carolyn - worked tirelessly trying to link up play in the first half, before becoming more attacking options in the second half providing much needed support for Karen, they also still came back and defended - i'm not sure how any of them could move by the end of the game. Special mention to Carolyn who got injured stopping a shot with her foot in the first half but carried on playing through the pain
Karen - great pressuring on the defence and keeper forcing them into making a number of mistakes, and unlucky not to score from the confusion you created in their back 4.

The game was played in a great spirit between the teams - including their fans and coaches. They all thanked us for having the courage to turn up despite being players down so that they could still get a game rather than just handing them the points and commented on the way we'd kept on trying until the end. Also, their female coach said she'd be happy to have any of us playing in her team - none of us checked to see which team she was talking about, as it may have hit players confidence if we found out she looked after the U12s.....

So although the result wasn't great the performance was heartening and over a pint afterwards everyone was looking at the positives that came from the game. The only slightly disappointing thing being that we knew if we'd had 11 players it would have been a very tight game - Garston had used their 2 player advantage well and had to be fair to them scored some great goals. Still 2 more games to go and if whoever plays give us much as this 9 then it will be a good end to the season.

To finish with I do feel it's important to point out what a bright lot we are. Congratulations to Belinda for saying after the game "There seemed to be a lot more of them out on the pitch than us"....... hmmm there may have been a reason for that. Also, up until now none of the reserves have ever thought to question how much effort Karen puts into a match, but from now on we may check to make sure she is doing enough running. After the game she wondered why her hair was wet, we pointed out this would be due to sweat and was pretty common after exercise - apparently this isn't something that's happened to her after a game before.....

P.S. in case my match report didn't make it clear final score: Garston 3rds quite a few goals BA reserves slightly less.