Following a late cry off from Bedwell the previous week, Bury Rangers Girls U11 White’s season got under way against Garston Ladies on Saturday.  Garston arrived with a full squad of 9 but kindly agreed to a six-a-side format as the Whites have only six registered players, many of whom were making their debuts in Bury shirts.

The game kicked off in fresh but bright conditions with Bury playing into a slight wind in the first half.  Early Garston pressure was kept at bay through a combination of good keeping, closing down and sound tackling.  However mid way through the half Garston scored – Bury struggled to work the ball away from a goal kick and a speculative shot squirmed home.  A second followed shortly when, after a combination of unfortunate ricochets, the ball fell to the Garston striker to poke home.  Half time 2:0.

Coach Holly rallied the troops at half time concentrating on shape and positioning.  Without threatening the Garston goal too much Bury enjoyed a substantial period of consolidation at the beginning of the second half with Garston strikes dealt with by man-of-the-match Millie now wearing the gloves.  Two late powerful shots by Garston completed the scoring but despite the 4:0 reverse many positives had come from this first outing with all players making a contribution.  Hopefully some mid week registrations will bolster the Whites numbers for the match against St Albans City North next time out.  Improvement is going to be the name of the game for this willing group and corresponding results in the reverse fixtures will be a good measure of this.

by Chris Amos