Sils up to 5th

This weeks adventure saw Captain Issy gathering her squad together for the short trip down to Warwick who are struggling at the foot of the table. Although bottom they have a large resolute defence and midfield that were set to take no prisoners and haven’t actually lost heavily all season apart from the first encounter where Sils dished out 5 goals which is their heaviest defeat so far.

As Sils took to the new azure blue pitch they immediately felt the bounciness of it and true to form the ball hit with any speed was bobbling along at a fair old speed so players honed on the flat green astros of norm suddenly had to adjust their technical abilities to combat this erratic ball bouncing towards them.

The game started with Sils on the offensive from the start but were finding difficulty in getting any meaningful threats on goal, all the action for the opening quarter was in the Warwick half with the odd sporadic breakaway being offered as resistance but Sils could have made things easier for themselves if passes were crisper preventing the opposition any. However, the breakaways were quick and had a threat which could cause problems if maximum concentration was not held throughout. To combat Warwick playing the ball around at the back the forwards were tasked with pressing high and constantly but this didn’t always work out and the major threats came once again from Tammy and Ruth as they weaved their magical runs through static defenders. With no surprise it was one of Tammy’s turbo charged surges that led to the goal as she powered to the back line to cut the ball back where Frankie was waiting but had to skilfully pull a bobbling ball down before tapping it in for the opener and a deserved lead. The Warwick goalie continues to be the busier of the two although Jo was called upon to make a number of critical saves which could have swung the balance of play away from Sils and the Warwick wingers were pacey enough to cause problems if allowed the time and space although the defence were mainly on top of things winning the majority of the tackles. The score remained into half time where the forwards were requested to work harder once again and with a full bench to start with this was working better and within five minutes of the re-start he midfield combined to let Ruth off on another decisive run slipping the ball to Tammy who setup Frankie for her second of the game.
Although still not having put the game to bed Sils were always at risk of a breakaway goal and sure enough midway through the half the defence was for once in disarray and Warwick managed to pull a goal back which seemed to hit the confidence of the team for a while. The midfield was still not a place to venture for the unwary although Sils were winning the battle and feeding the forwards who were giving the Warwick defence a torrid time with their constant fast paced attacks which were starting to open holes in the defence as the more elderly defenders were having problems keeping up with the youthful running. But as the forwards were seen to squander chance after chance Tammy once again decided enough was enough and took off on another powerful surge before slipping it past the keeper for to give Sils more breathing space.

A deserved win which saw Sils move up to 5th and a game that turned out to be far harder than originally envisaged.

Next up is a home game against the Chairmans select 11 aka as Leamington 2’s

MoM: Captain Issy Thomas who led by example throughout and whose confidence has grown immensely since the start of the season.