SURREY UNDER 14 REP TEAM V Winchester  U-14 by Ray Kemp

        

It was a very cold winter evening on a wonderful floodlit pitch that saw the season for the Under 14s Rep Team kick off at the Guildford Spectrum. The girls had only previously met during trials so the warm up before the game was their first training session together as a team. The game started nervously with both teams defending their own half well, holding up the ball and waiting for the right moment to push forward. It was Surrey who found their feet first and began playing some impressive football with the wide players linking up very well, repeatedly pushing the ball into Winchester’s box bringing the keeper off her line and into play several times in quick succession with some teasing crosses and through balls. It was this creative build up play that gave Surrey the lead in the first half with Sophie Kemp latching onto a ball Winchester failed to clear from the right edge of their 18 yard box and sending it soaring over the keeper’s nearside to make it 1-0. Winchester were very well organised at the back and in the middle of the park but didn’t really have the strength in the final third to cause a problem. The Surrey defensive line marshalled by the Captain, Paige Kirby-Atkinson,  was very compact and frustrated Winchester’s attempts to push the ball forward into the danger areas and looked good as they broke with pace. Surrey continued to play good football down the wings with Edie Kelly and Leonie Thomas going through one on one, both being denied by strong saves from the Winchester goalkeeper.

 

The second half continued in much the same way as the first with Winchester looking organised but Surrey looking really impressive down both wings defensively and creatively with Amy Boylan and Georgia Fazzino beginning to work very well together, causing no end of problems on the left flank. With the midfield starting to dominate the middle of the park Surrey began to find gaps in a tiring Winchester defence and, with 8 minutes to go, after some strong build-up play through the midfield, a ball laid on to Edie was slotted first time under the approaching keeper and, after hitting the right hand goal post and rolling right along the goal line, it finally went in off of the left hand goal post. Winchester continued to push for a consolation but, were thwarted at every attempt by a disciplined Surrey defensive unit. Laura Stew was unlucky not to get a third for Surrey with her strike coming off the post and away to safety in the dying minutes. Overall it was a good performance with Surrey’s strength, work rate and creative play coming out on top.

 Squad

 

Sophie Bridson (Croydon Borough Girls)                                                Manager - Ray Kemp

Amy Boylan (Cheam Rangers)                                                                    Coaches -  Dave Harris

Carly Pullinger (Cheam Rangers)                                                                                   Lee Atkinson

Paige Kirby-Atkinson Captain (Croydon Borough Girls)

Rhea Gall (Cheam Rangers)

Sophie Kemp (Croydon Borough Girls)

Toni Jones (Croydon Borough Girls)

Lauren Hiscott (Cheam Rangers)

Georgia Fazzino (Croydon Borough Girls)

Molly Small (Camberley Town FC)

Ellie Smith (Cheam Rangers)

Charlotte Cavanagh (Croydon Borough Girls)

Laura Stew (Croydon Borough Girls)

Edie Kelly (Cheam Rangers)

Leonie Thomas (Croydon Borough Girls)