Womens F 5 - 0 Valley D

 Match Report;  Saturday 21 March Foxes v Valley D

Can we remain Undefeated? Can we win the League? Can we win our last two matches? Heck, can we win this match? Can Mairi and Sarah, our overlapping  forwards, score their first goal and claim their first tequila. So many questions and in about 70 minutes we’ll know the answer to some of the questions. Pressure? Jitters? We’re all putting the extra training in, every single person wants to be part of a winning team, no-one wants to let themselves or the team down. Time to soak it up and stand up and be counted.

OK, says Rob (our kindly A team stand-in coach for Chappie). Chappie, Rob says, has a plan. A simple Plan.  We like simple.

Step 1 – Score Goals and Fast – check,

Step 2 – Score lots of ‘em - check

Step 3 – Clean Sheet – check

OK? Rob says. OK, we say. Off we go.

First half. We push back, the ball is fed left, up to the D, ball gets crossed and Gen calmly sinks it straight to the back of the net. GOAL!!!, WITHIN 20 SECONDS!! Simple. So simple it happens again in the second minute of the game GOAL! – Gen is on fire. 2-0, 3 MINUTES IN. Valley look to their coach. Chins Up, he says. Valley are looking shaky and they have 67 minutes to go. Could be the longest hour they’ve had in a long time…….We dominate. Ellen is flawless feeding the ball left and right, Vivien sprints her way up on the right wing as does Alex on the left. Gen is thinking hatrick, Sam is thinking Golden Stick – our forwards are in the groove and hungry. Penalty corner after penalty corner awarded to the Foxes. Finally, Viv pushes short to Sam, who whacks the ball cleanly into the net. GOAL!!! 3-0.  And defensively, all is quiet on the western front bar a save and a cleared penalty corner, but us defenders can’t let our guard down for a second. The first half is over. Thank God, say Valley, and run to their coach for a huddle, no, make that a cuddle. Could be worse, he says. Famous last words….In our camp, we are buoyant. Er, Fine. Great, says Rob, Just keep doing that. Good advice. OK, we say.

Second half. We wait patiently for Valley to slowly make their way onto the pitch. The valley coach looks nervous. He should be. Valiantly Valley make a real effort to dig deep. It just isn’t enough.  The Foxes easily dominate and seem to have about half an hour of penalty corners. Us defenders talk about the weather and admire Rhona’s nail colour (shimmery deep blue for those interested). Finally, a foxy manoeuvre – penalty corner, a direct hit not taken but a clever pass – left, right, post and there is MAIRI – thunk – the sound of a ball hitting the back board. GOAL!!4-0!!. MAIRI stands and stares and then all hell breaks loose. Is she going straight to the bar for her tequila? Headless chicken – very happy one is running around the pitch – the Foxes erupt. What the h**k is going on, say Valley? First Goal, we say. And sportingly they clap for Mairi. Nice team, we think – ooh we feel the love! And Valley pick the ball up and yet again head for the halfway line. Valley now realize they have nothing to lose er, apart from the game, so make as many breakaway attacks as they can. Another save, and we find ourselves facing 5 penalty consecutive penalty corners. Us defenders are actually happy – we’re busy and doing our bit. We clear every one. Back down the business end. Another penalty corner awarded to the Foxes. Viv pushes expertly to Alex. Alex stops the ball perfectly outside the D, rolls it forward and WHACK – GOAL!!! 5-0! Was that a gazelle or a monkey on the pitch – no, Alex’s victory dance. Valley look on curiously. Weird bunch, they say, trudging back to the centre line - again.  Final Whistle. 5-0.

Step 1 – Score Goals and Fast – Tick

Step 2 – Score Lots of ‘em – Tick

Step 3 – Clean Sheet – Tick

Player of the Match for all her foxy passes – Ellen – well done!