trece verde
Well-Known Member
back on topic....
No games of my own scheduled for this past weekend, so I went to my niece's game in North Van. Girls' 5 district U16 silver....
NSGSC Flyers 4 Mission Punx 2 (Argyle HS).
No scoring in the 1st half; good chances both ways, but neither team could finish their lunch. Both teams had trouble getting anywhere from the top of the box. Looked like neither had played or practiced on gravel as the bouncing ball hopped frequently over swinging legs. NS had at least 18 players present; Mission barely had starting 11. NS keeper was doing the Erin MacLeod with her hair dyed to match her jersey and socks (all 3 shocking pink).
All goals scored in the 2nd half. After both sides swapped keepers, NS was gifted a free kick in the box after a picked-up passback (sub keeper didn't know the rule). Scored through the wall on the free kick. 1-0 NS.
2nd goal carried down the wing and placed under the keeper from a very bad angle. Looks like she didn't want to drop to cover it (even with gloves on). 2-0 NS.
My niece (Tash) got one back for Mission from a shot that the NS keeper had been unable to hang on to. She rounded the downed keeper and hit the net. 2-1 NS.
High lobbed ball from about 25 yds out (rather speculative, but it worked) pushed in off of the Mission keeper's fingertips. Apparently, she jammed one of them in the process, and had to come out for an icepack. 3-1 NS.
With Mission's 2nd replacement keeper in net, a lot of goal kicks were going straight down the middle. With Mission's centreback taking the kicks, and the 2 outside backs playing wide, one came right back in again as one of the NS strikers came back in with a partial breakaway. Keeper was frozen at the top of the box like a deer in the headlights (don't know if she realized that she could actually leave the box), and the striker rounded her and put the ball in the net. 4-1 NS.
Mission got a bit of a break late, and scored the nicest-looking goal of the game, with one of their strikers redirecting a hard low cross past the NS keeper (no chance on it). 4-2 NS final.
Noted that a lot of these girls are still morbidly afraid of heading the ball. It was also one of the quietest games I've watched in ages - none of these kids talk on the field to each other, and movement off the ball is really sporadic. Mission has 2 rookie coaches, not doing badly in their division, but there are definitely gaps to fill in their strategy. No, I'm not taking on coaching another team.
Credit to them for keeping it positive for the players, even after the girls decided to adopt Thing 2 as their team mascot and paid more attention to him than the coach during their half-time talk.
Cheers,
Stew
No games of my own scheduled for this past weekend, so I went to my niece's game in North Van. Girls' 5 district U16 silver....
NSGSC Flyers 4 Mission Punx 2 (Argyle HS).
No scoring in the 1st half; good chances both ways, but neither team could finish their lunch. Both teams had trouble getting anywhere from the top of the box. Looked like neither had played or practiced on gravel as the bouncing ball hopped frequently over swinging legs. NS had at least 18 players present; Mission barely had starting 11. NS keeper was doing the Erin MacLeod with her hair dyed to match her jersey and socks (all 3 shocking pink).
All goals scored in the 2nd half. After both sides swapped keepers, NS was gifted a free kick in the box after a picked-up passback (sub keeper didn't know the rule). Scored through the wall on the free kick. 1-0 NS.
2nd goal carried down the wing and placed under the keeper from a very bad angle. Looks like she didn't want to drop to cover it (even with gloves on). 2-0 NS.
My niece (Tash) got one back for Mission from a shot that the NS keeper had been unable to hang on to. She rounded the downed keeper and hit the net. 2-1 NS.
High lobbed ball from about 25 yds out (rather speculative, but it worked) pushed in off of the Mission keeper's fingertips. Apparently, she jammed one of them in the process, and had to come out for an icepack. 3-1 NS.
With Mission's 2nd replacement keeper in net, a lot of goal kicks were going straight down the middle. With Mission's centreback taking the kicks, and the 2 outside backs playing wide, one came right back in again as one of the NS strikers came back in with a partial breakaway. Keeper was frozen at the top of the box like a deer in the headlights (don't know if she realized that she could actually leave the box), and the striker rounded her and put the ball in the net. 4-1 NS.
Mission got a bit of a break late, and scored the nicest-looking goal of the game, with one of their strikers redirecting a hard low cross past the NS keeper (no chance on it). 4-2 NS final.
Noted that a lot of these girls are still morbidly afraid of heading the ball. It was also one of the quietest games I've watched in ages - none of these kids talk on the field to each other, and movement off the ball is really sporadic. Mission has 2 rookie coaches, not doing badly in their division, but there are definitely gaps to fill in their strategy. No, I'm not taking on coaching another team.
Credit to them for keeping it positive for the players, even after the girls decided to adopt Thing 2 as their team mascot and paid more attention to him than the coach during their half-time talk.Cheers,
Stew
