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January 2005 match reports |
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| Sun 30 Jan 2005 |
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GMP 4 |
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5 Manchester Stingers |
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Eve Talbot (10, 58, 78)
Jinny Ursell (60)
Rachael Taylor (74)
POTM - Jackie Ryan |
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The Team
Jane Laycock (gk)
Katie Fingers, Shelley Hollihead, Mickey McCormick (Scooby - 35mins),
Lisa Harvey-Smith
Jackie Ryan, Molly (Rachael Taylor - 44mins), Rachael Brown
Jinny Ursell, Eve Talbot, Max
Subs not used: Polly Haywood, Tess Ptonka, Joey
Match
report
In a break from tradition, the author's eyes were firmly rooted to
the back of a number 9 shirt for the duration of the match at GMP,
given the defensive role required from her. Therefore the flourishing
literary masterpiece that is the details of the goals shall be somewhat
less elaborate than usual. Anyway, this is roughly what happened....
In the first half, the yellows (bravely wearing short sleeves in an
arctic wind-chill) did not get off to the best start. Although taking
the lead through Eve in the first ten minutes, the scores were soon
levelled by the home side. The Police side pressed strongly on the
Stingers' defence and in the line of duty, Jackie's hand was struck
by the ball and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty.
Jane had no chance as the ball was struck very well by the GMP striker.
Things were only to get worse, when two GMP players broke away together
and caught the Stingers napping to make it 3-1.
She doesn't drink whiskey, she doesn't have a red nose, but manager
Karen Harris may well have been justified had she kicked a boot at
the players in the dressing room. Instead, she took more of a holistic
approach and encouraged the team to forget everything that had just
happened. They did, and re-emerged with renewed verve. They soon came
back into the game, with a great headed goal from Eve Talbot in the
58th minute. The fightback continued, as Jinny lamped one in as has
been her way in important games this season. This levelled the scores,
before a superb strike from Rachael Taylor reminiscent of Wayne Rooney
(in this context this is actually a compliment - Ed)
put the Stingers ahead. Then, in the 78th minute the rampaging Eve
stole one of her classic solo goals as she out-ran the defence and
beat the keeper in a 1-to-1.
With just over ten minutes on the clock, the Yellows were determined
not to compromise this lead and it was all hands on deck. Even so,
they received a scare when a cheeky chip was saved fantastically by
Jane. Minutes later a GMP corner led to a superb volleyed goal, leaving
the last few moments of the game a very tense affair as the yellows
desperately tried to keep hold of those precious three points. At
the final whistle the fans cheered, relieved
and happy at the gutsy team performance they had witnessed in the
second
half.
Lisa Harvey-Smith |
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| Sun 16 Jan 2005 |
Divisional
Cup 2nd Round |
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Manchester Stingers 7 |
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2 Burnley & Borrowdale |
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Eve Talbot (5, 26, 56, 72)
Jinny Ursell (40)
Rachael Taylor (44)
Mini (78)
POTM - Eve Talbot |
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The Team
Joey (gk)
Katie Fingers, Mickey McCormick, Shelley Hollihead, Gwen Davies
Max,
Mini, Rachael Scouse Brown (Claire Garrett - 80mins)
Jinny Ursell, Eve Talbot (Kate Gardener - 72mins), Rachael Taylor
(Nic Absalom - 70mins)
Subs not used: Polly Haywood
Match report
After the long Xmas break it was time for the Stingers to test themselves
against some higher-league opposition in the form of Burnley and Borrowdale.
This was the first time in Stingers history that the team had
reached the second round, after their memorable defeat of Buxton back
in
November.
The squad once again turned out in force for the first match of 2005,
but
the starting eleven was short of Jane, due to an unfortunate injury,
so it
was again the turn of Joey to man the sticks. The first ten minutes
was
scrappy, with both teams still mentally in the changing rooms. The
yellows
soon got into their stride however, with some encouragement from Karen
and the merry band of supporters. It wasn't long before Eve Talbot
got the
Stingers off the mark, with a skilful run through the box and slotted
past
the keeper from a tight angle. Soon it was 2-0, after a superb run
from
Eve, who beat four defenders and left the Burnley number 1 rooted
to the
spot. The visitors came back into the game, statistically at least,
when
an innocuous challenge was awarded a free-kick just outside the Yellow's
penalty area and the Burnley forward beat the wall and the keeper
to make
it 2-1.
There began the fightback, with an excellent through ball from Maxine
finding Eve on the left side of goal. She took the ball wide, floating
in
a lovely cross for Jinny, who showed strength in the air to beat her
marker and the keeper with a wonderful headed goal. In the next wave
of
attack, Jinny (this time from the right wing) took the ball past a
defender and her shot was deflected off the crossbar. Rachael Taylor
controlled it on her chest, put it onto her good foot and finished
off the
first half with a close-range goal making it 4-2 Stingers.
The second half was equally exciting! With the team flying high, the
central midfield got into the attacking spirit as Mini took a shot
which
was saved by the keeper, only to be followed up and converted at close
range by Eve. The sixth goal was almost entirely down to Mini- a fantastic
strike from 25 yards which stunned the keeper. The visitors took advantage
of the yellows' first defensive slip-up with a consolation goal, but
in
reply the Stingers' attack continued with aplomb. Eve was denied by
the post but got her revenge when she shot low from a corner to make
it
7-2 Stingers and a fantastic four-goal haul. Next stop Cardiff?
Lisa Harvey-Smith |
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Team members Claire and Mini preparing
for the cup match. |
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‘The View from the Dug Out’
v GMP 31/01/05
I have a been directed by the editor to be succinct in
my ‘view’ in the future but I hope she will
excuse the length of this piece because the game against
GMP was certainly one of the most exciting and engaging
games of the season so far – one for the neutrals
as they say, but not one for a slightly neurotic manager!
It certainly was a bruising affair; two fully committed
sides playing out a local derby. It had everything –
controversial decisions (or not as the case maybe), great
goals from both sides, crunching tackles and unfortunately
one pretty serious injury.
At the risk of employing a well used footy expression
it certainly was ‘a game of two halves’. After
a reasonable start to the first half taking the lead on
10 mins with Eve’s first of a hatrick, we seemed
to lose our way. It was one of those inexplicable displays
when it’s not clear what’s going wrong but
it was clearly going wrong somewhere. I think maybe our
week break due to the weather took its toll a little and
we looked a bit flat footed – reacting rather than
anticipating. The half could not have worse for us –
after conceding three sloppy goals, we had to make two
enforced changes in two key areas, Centre Half ( Mickey
– hamstring) and Centre Midfield.
So 3-1 down and with two major injuries what’s a
team to do but go out in the second half and work and
work and work until we secured the win. Its difficult
to single anyone out in that performance because it was
the most committed second half team I have ever seen at
Stingers, made even more impressive by the fact that things
just were not going to go our way; the only route to victory
was to follow the road of real bloody hard work. Everyone
focused totally on the job in hand and got on with it.
I would like to first mention the people that came on
and swapped position. The enforced changes saw Scooby
make her comeback from injury and slot in at left back,
and she did brilliantly. Her touch was solid, her distribution
accurate and her reading of the game was spot on. Lisa
took up another new position, this time as a rookie centre
back; her commitment as well as her ability is unquestionable,
she will happily play anywhere on that pitch so long as
she’s in a Stingers shirt and even when she’s
on the bench her attitude is magnificent – a joy
to manage. Shelley put in a fabulous captains performance;
leading by example, rallying the team and never giving
up. Shelley is always comfortable bringing the ball forward
but over the last couple of games she is really asserting
herself in the air which is making her a game more complete.
KT Fingers was everywhere as usual running up and down
the right like a gazelle dressed in yellow, putting in
important tackles and clearances right up until the final
whistle.
One of the turning points of the match came with about
20mins to go, we were 4-3 up and being put under some
pressure when the ball broke free to a GMP player six
yards out, it looked a certainty but somehow Jane managed
to claw it our and protect out lead. Having also just
come back from injury it was a fantastic save. Max, JR(POTM)
and Scouse battled away relentlessly always looking for
the opportunity to release either wingers or Eve as well
as making sure they were always back behind the ball once
we lost possession. Max’s corner which lead to our
equaliser was an absolute peach, which Eve buried with
a tremendous header into the top right hand corner. Jinny
on the right had an outstanding game. Running their left
back ragged in the first half, forcing the GMP manager
to swap round his full backs, as well as getting on the
score sheet. While Rach on the other flank came on at
half time to score an incredible goal from about 20 yards
out which flew over the keepers head – a performance
that will certainly give me more selection headaches next
week. To top it all off our very own Rolls Royce of a
scoring machine, Eve completed yet another impressive
hatrick, with 23 goals this season she’s on fire.
She worried the GMP defence throughout the match, posing
a constant threat throughout the game and road some tackles
which put a slightly different meaning on what we normally
understand by the term police escort.
Another great performance, another great win we certainly
found our strength through adversity, we’ve got
that wining habit and I hope it remains a hard one to
break. Thanks to all the supporters especially Keith and
Noel (who did stand next to me for about 5 mins and then
for some reason moved about 50 yards away – anyone
know why?) Not forgetting our subs and players who didn’t
get in the squad; Polly, Tess and Joey on the bench and
Nic and Claire who had to step down from the squad your
vocal support is always much valued. We had 18 players
available for selection which is a testament to how we
are developing as a club (even if selection keeps me up
on a sat night!)
Karen Harris |
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‘The View from
the Dug Out’ – v Burnley and Borrowdale 2nd
Round Div Cup 16/01/05 |
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‘History consists of a series of
accumulated imaginative inventions’. Voltaire
‘If you would understand anything, observe
its beginning and its development’. Aristotle
Ok, Ok I promise I won’t start my next team talk
with anymore quotations but hey indulge me a little?
The club continues to rise to every occasion, and we are
producing performances that we can all take a great deal
of pride in. We are in the midst of writing Stingers history,
and to reach the quarter finals of the Divisional Cup
is a great achievement, so take a moment to step back
and enjoy it. It was an accomplished performance, dare
I say it a professional job well done!
We approached the game with confidence and commitment
and for 90 minutes we worked hard for each other. There’s
a real sense of understanding developing throughout the
team, and a resilience that insures that people can fit
into the system the team plays. Again we had changes in
personnel; Joey coming in for Jane (who had a rather unfortunate
dog biting injury at the weekend, get well soon!) had
a solid game, making some excellent saves from 1 on 1
situations as well as having to deal with a very sticky
and heavy goalmouth. Again the back four weren’t
giving anything away – they have developed a real
mean streak! What was most pleasing from a defensive point
of view, were the improvements we have made in challenging
for aerial balls. Both Shell and Mickey imposed themselves
from the start not giving the Burnley forwards any time
or space, while KT and Gwen were tight on the flanks and
distributed the ball well to build attacks from the back.
The midfield also saw a Max coming in for Jackie, and
playing in an unfamiliar role. All credit to Max, it’s
hard mentally as well as physically to play in a different
position but she rose to the challenge, and played some
wonderful crossfield passes, switching play and opening
up their defence. Mini and Scouse continued to put in
5star performances and this time it was Mini’s turn
to get on the score sheet with a wonderfully crafted and
well executed goal.
Jinny and Rach again worked tirelessly up and down the
flanks, making sure we always had wide options going forward
and getting back behind the ball when we lost possession
and both getting on the score sheet. Rach following up
on a rebound and Jinny enjoying a rare headed goal from
a great cross from Eve. Eves ‘fab four’ were
the icing on the cake – great goals, well taken,
particularly the second in which she showed pace, power
and accuracy. Must mention the bravery of the Burnley
keeper, people that know usually run away when Eve’s
bearing down on goal, at one point the keeper kept a powerful
shot out, but nearly ended in the back of the net herself!
All the subs that came on did extremely well in testing
conditions – the pitch was very heavy, and that
made it really difficult to pick up the game quickly but
Nic, Kate and Claire all showed that we are developing
strength in depth.
Thanks to our band of loyal supporters, wind, rain or
sunshine its great to have you there.So onwards and upwards…who
knows what might happen in the next round? Whoever we
draw, whether home or away, win or loose, I’m confident
we will put in a performance we can be proud of.
K
Manager Karen Harris |
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