Round 19 Traf Women Away to Sale
What a game! What guts and determination! What a finish!
Surely this was the most exciting game of the season. We travelled to Sale with a good team although one without 2 of our regular goal scorers, to face a team that has had very good results and are only 2 spots below us on the ladder.
The game started in typical fashion with the ball locked in our forward zone but we set the tone of the game early – we would struggle to score all day no matter how many chances we created. Molly, Micky and Ang were running riot up forward but doing their best to give the goalkeeper regulation practice by shooting straight at her. Our defence was rock solid constantly feeding the ball in and gave the opposition only one real chance all game in the first half when they shot over the bar.
A frustrating first half resulted in a 0-0 score line at the break in warm weather against an enthusiastic, fast young team.
However Traf is now team that knows how to grind out a win and they would not be denied even after we generously gave them a penalty early in the second half which they took well. I have to admit my nerves were starting to fray a bit at this point and I was constantly thinking of a radical move to change the game as we were still missing many opportunities up forward.
The trigger was pulled – Claire to centre back and Cristiin forward. Cristiin showed her class adding spark immediately. She broke through on 73 minutes and made no mistake shooting wide of the keeper; elation! relief! But the job was not finished.
The game went from end to end as Sale fought back; although they never really looked like scoring they were denying us the time to score by constantly rebounding. But at 89 minutes Cristiin broke through again and powered a shot into the back of the net on the run. What a goal!
The floodgates opened and Micky got through a minute later making no mistake this time. We got the result we deserved – the hard way! But I can’t deny that it was exciting and I can’t deny the character and composure that this wonderful team showed.
Sale 1 Traf 3
Report by Coach Tony Wyatt.
