Rising Stars U16GY H v Sittingbourne

KGLFL Div 2 Sun 1 October 2023

Risers continue their winning streak, scoring 5 goals for the third week in succession and moving up to second in the table!

Another dry and warm Sunday morning in Canterbury and Risers were ready for some football! The coaches reminded the players (listening attentively on the new subs bench!) of the FA Play Safe campaign, and why safeguarding is so important in football. After the usual pre-match handshakes/fist bumps, Risers were off!

The girls were switched on right from the start and stormed the first half. Sophie started with some good runs down the wing, being determined to win her 1v1s against her opponent. The Risers’ defence also had a good solid start, dealing with anything that looked as if it might threaten their goal. 11 minutes in, Connie did a fantastic drop kick and when the bounce got the better of the Sittingbourne defence, Eva was ready to take advantage, with a lovely shot just past the keeper’s left hand into the corner of the goal.

1-0  to Risers!

Sittingbourne had chances though, and their no 5 had a few near misses. Risers were also lucky not to concede a penalty when one of the Sittingbourne forwards looked to be through on goal and clashed with Nancy. Was it to be our day? This squad never like to leave things to chance…

Halfway through the first half, and the first set of Riser substitutions saw Ella, Lydia and Sunee come on. Ella got straight into action down the left, continually dancing her way past her opponent who just couldn’t cope with her skilful footwork. Another lovely ball from Jeea and Ella’s shot was so powerful that even though the keeper got a hand to it, she couldn’t stop it from going over the line.

2-0 to Risers!

Sittingbourne were starting to look a bit dazed and clearly weren’t expecting Risers to start strongly, having beaten us in a preseason friendly back in August. Risers were on a roll by this time though, and on 27 minutes Jeea (in yet another dominant display at left back) put a lovely ball up to Natalie, who looped a lovely shot over the Sittingbourne keeper.

3-0 to Risers

Three to the good, you might have thought Risers would sit back on their heels, but not this team! They kept pressing for another goal. Sophie was using her strength to good effect and drew a foul from her opponent. Ella went over to the right to take the free kick, with a good shot but the keeper caught it well.

On the right, Grace, Nancy and Lia put in some lovely teamwork to clear the ball under pressure. Emily, Lydia, Jeea, Lia and Nancy were all commanding in their defensive positions, showing good decision-making under pressure, always timing their tackles to perfection. Emily was dealing with everything that came her way, putting in an early claim for the coaches’ player of the match (which she did indeed get).

In midfield at various times, Sophie, Grace, Eva, Madison, Eloise, Sunee and Ella were all working hard to create chances and stop Sittingbourne getting into their stride.

After a short break on the bench, Eva was back on to menace the Sittingbourne defenders. Ella, near the halfway line put in a ball to Sunee near the box, who was working hard to bring it under control and managed to put it into Eva’s path. She was never going to miss, scoring her second with a lovely strike putting the ball in the top corner.

4-0 to Risers

In the remaining minutes before half time, Risers had a couple more chances on goal. Eloise, from left back (again showing how versatile our players are), won the ball from her opponent and travelled with it to near the halfway line, putting a lovely pass to Lia, who crossed to Grace, who connected with Eva, resulting in another lovely shot that went just over the bar. Sunee and Ella were also linking up well in midfield. Natalie, Sunee and Madison were strong in midfield, closing down any danger early on and preventing Sittingbourne’s midfield from getting into their stride.

At the half time whistle, Sittingbourne were looking on the ropes…

HALF TIME

Risers took the opportunity to play some players in different positions given the comfortable lead. Nancy had a spell in midfield, and Grace moved to right back. But desperate to get some kind of a foothold in the game, to their credit, Sittingbourne started the second half with some good moves and attempts at the Riser goal.

Sunee and Lia were working strong in the middle and Sophie continued her fantastic work down the right. Nancy looked comfortable in midfield. Sunee was continually breaking up Sittingbourne passes. And Madison (putting our training into practice!) was controlling the ball well in the air. Ella continued with her relentless runs down the left wing, and on 49 mins had a lovely shot that went just over the bar. A few minutes later, Sunee put the ball in the back of the net but the ref had just blown for a foul by Natalie, so it didn’t count.

On another run down the left, brushing off a shirt tug, Ella put in a lovely cross to Eva, who was just about to connect with the ball but the keeper made a brave save.

Jeea made an important interception on 60 minutes to prevent another Sittingbourne shot on goal. But Sittingbourne kept up the pressure, and just a couple of minutes later, one of their attackers found space and tried a long shot that dipped just as it neared the crossbar. Connie had no chance.

4-1 to Risers!

The goal inevitably gave Sittingbourne a lift and they nearly got a second when Connie couldn’t quite get hold of the ball in a 1-1 with a Sittingbourne attacker, but thankfully Lia was on hand to clear it and avoid the team conceding a second in quick succession.

Risers knew they had to regain the upper hand, and Grace (now playing right mid) was determined to threaten the Sittingbourne goal. She had a couple of chances in quick succession, one went just wide of the goal, the keeper caught the other. But on yet another foray down the right, on 70 mins, she put in a lovely cross to near the penalty spot, which Madison took a touch to control then struck for a lovely goal.  

5-1 to Risers!

Unfortunately and somewhat surprisingly, Risers ended up with two yellow cards as the game became very ill-tempered, and some of the squad couldn’t resist answering back after being subjected to foul language for much of the game. There were also some very physical and reckless tackles, including a double-footed lunge at Jeea (which didn’t lead to a yellow card but should have), who by some miracle wasn’t seriously injured as a result. 

As the clock was (thankfully) winding down, Sittingbourne won a corner kick. The ball was delivered in and a red shirt connected with it, the ball somehow dribbling across and hitting the inside of the post beyond Connie’s left hand for a second goal for the visitors.

5-2 to Risers!

Another strong all-round performance from Risers – the coaches’ player of the match could go to any one of the squad. For a third successive week, this attacking team scored 5 lovely goals. The defenders and midfield are playing confidently and solidly, Connie is ever capable in goal, and the team are really working hard for each other and enjoying their football.

But the game was marred by some foul and abusive language from Sittingbourne, which the referee didn’t deal with. It was a reminder that our team need to keep their discipline, whatever the behaviour they encounter from opponents.

Opponents’ player of the match: Connie

Coaches’ player of the match: Emily

Starting line-up: Connie, Nancy, Lia, Emily, Jeea, Eloise, Grace, Madison, Sophie, Eva, Natalie

Subs: Ella, Lydia, Sunee

Thanks to Pippa and Harjit for running the line!