Barnes at Home. Close, but no cigar.. 3-4 :(

In the absence of any of our regular journalists, its been left to me to tell you about this well fought game that just slipped from our grasp.
I just want to say thanks to all of the girls who battled valiantly for every second of what was (as far as I'm concerned...) our finest performance to date. Ive still not got my voice back.

The sun came out, and our players shined.

We always knew Barnes were going to be a tough opponent, but any doubts or fears we had about being outplayed were very quickly put to rest when after only a couple of minutes, Ruby did something very special. Surprising the Barnes keeper, their defenders, Christelle and I, and probably herself, she attacked a well passed and quick moving ball (Hannah Reiter I think getting the perfect assist!) with one of the finest strikes in the history of the U13s. She nailed a shot so powerful, so sublime,  the opposition had to accept that for the first time in a good while, they were justifiably on the back foot at 1 nil down.
Unfortunately for you now Ruby, Christelle and I expect lots more of this from you :)

Barnes being the side they are, didn't by any means give up. Equalising soon after, it was game on again.

Still in a bit of shock from Ruby's 'goal of the season' (TBC) and slightly jaded by the birthday i'd been to the previous evening **, the following 50 minutes or so is a bit fuzzy, shall we say.
But I think it went something like this....

Barnes 2-1    Not sure who it was that scored for them, but they did.

Importantly, it wasn't the dangerous no 9 due to the fantastic and relentless man marking of Sarah Dilamore. One of Barnes' best players was just never allowed to shine. Astounding work there, and keep it up. (Goal line clearance at some other dangerous moment.. 10 points Sarah D)

At this point, a Barnes substitute on the bench was heard saying 'Come on Barnes! We are gonna thrash them!'
I held my tongue. (Mick   ;)
Their manager and I exchange a look....  A raised eyebrow from me, a rather panicked and nervous smile from him. He knew he had a fight on his hands with this TAFC squad!

We were great for a bit. Then we were amazing. Then we were fantastic for a while.
Sadie, clearly trying to play 60 minutes of football in her available 30 (she had to leave at half time to go and win some netball tournament, probably), was electrifying. Working harder than ever to win, keep and pass the ball, Barnes were at a loss to control her. Hannah Reiter, maybe after some 'seek and destroy' lessons from Sophia, constantly outpaced the Barnes midfield with fierce runs up the right. Time and time again she lost her marker, charged forward, and (sometimes from the most acute of angles) managed to cross the ball into the danger area. Stirling work once again.
The Eagles didn't lie down though, and managed to play some nice football. When the visitors did find a way through,  a couple of fine lightning quick reaction saves from Katherine maintained our position in this monumental battle.

 All square    2-2    But then Elin made a run, stretched for a bouncing a ball, and beautifully lobbed the flailing Barnes keeper to level the game again.

Sometime later...

Barnes 3-2   All I can say is.. they scored.  (watch out for the long ball girls.. watch the long ball!)

Our girls all took a deep breath, and got back to business. Hannah Rose and the others of the  back 4 did a great job of playing Barnes off side, making progress for the visitors more and more difficult. Lotty 'Im not scared of anyone (but i won't head it, ill use my shoulder instead)' totally ruled the midfield, skilfully and often powerfully controlling the play and feeding the ball forward. With Alice and Lola supporting, each of them causing the Reds further headaches, Barnes were really having quite a tough morning.

All square again   3-3   As we have now come to expect, Elin managed to sail a wonderful corner into the Barnes box. Maybe with a little gust of wind to assist, or maybe a tiny deflection from the Barnes keeper, whatever... the ball found its way into the back of the net.

"Doesn't matter how they go in" Christell and I mutter in unison...

The fight was still on. (Calm down Ed.. its only a game)

We continued being great, with some added moments of awesomeness.
Ciara the captain, once again showed she is very quickly finding her feet at TAFC. Strong and fast.. thats the way she plays, successfully fending off challenges from the hard working enemy.

Bella, patiently biding her time on the bench got the nod from Christelle. After almost tip-toeing onto the pitch, I have to admit I thought the pressure of the game had got to her. "Are you ok?" I shout..
I shouldn't have worried. As the ref blew for play to continue, she turned on and tuned in. Quietly and calmly making controlled challenges to WIN the ball, she skilfully moved forward to make well selected, intelligent passes. How some of these moves didn't lead to a home 4th is still a mystery to me.

Then something terrible happened which I'm not going to talk about. It certainly doesn't reflect the amazing performance from Katherine.

Barnes 4-3

The End.

They were lucky. So very lucky. All the Barnes staff and parents were visibly relieved at the sound of the final whistle. Their girls had stolen the points. 'That was our toughest game yet' came from their camp.

We've heard that before, and I'm sure we will again.

So we move on.
Forward in the knowledge that we are a force to be reckoned with.
Safe in the knowledge that we aint scared of anyone.

A game to be remembered for sure, especially as we had our record crowd! Rather fitting that IO and Loraine were able to witness such a class game. Great to see them too.
**Many of the people from the birthday dinner I had been at on saturday came to watch (recover) and all commented on how exciting it was.