Bury Rangers Girls U11 vs Garston Ladies U11 - Presdales, 7^th Jan 2012 (1-1)

Garston Ladies provided the opposition for the first fixture of 2012 on a bumpy, claggy surface much of which is now attached to the underside of the girls boots.  Garston sit in a middling position in the league but have many games in hand and have only lost once in the league this season.

The first half was a goalless affair with a clearly well coached Garston team being organized and strong and looking dangerous at times.  The chilly, windy conditions, bobbly surface and determined opposition meant that Bury’s passing game would have to wait until the game opened up in the second half.  However, Bury did manage to match their opponents in the physical side and parity at the turnaround was a fair reflection of the game.

Clear chances were difficult to fashion in the second half too as both sides took turns to apply pressure.  Molly Daniels dealt comfortably fielding the long range efforts from Garston and similarly the Garston keeper did not have to deal with too many clean strikes from Bury.  Offering more options to the player in possession may be one thing to take away from the game.  Midway through the second half as the game opened up and the compact formations of the first half loosened Garston fashioned a breakaway, their number 11 beat the last defender and rifled home at the near post.  Bury went again and, cheered on by a spirited crowd who were appreciating the hard work being put in, eventually scored the goal their play deserved with a couple of minutes remaining.  Girl of the game, Libby Hockney, who had been pushed into a more advanced position by coach Holly Miles in search of the equalizer, was on course for the girl of the game accolade anyway thanks to an excellent defensive contribution, applied the finish from close range.  Good performances were put in throughout the team though with Helena Falco and Alice Crawford’s tenacity and skillful runs from midfield worth a match report mention.

1:1.  Satisfactory performance to start to the new year and Bury’s response to going behind was admirable.. 

Team from:  Molly Daniels, Izzy Clermont, Libby Hockney, Holly Amos, Alice Crawford, Amy Martin, Zoe Martin, Helena Falco, Ruby Voss