PEMBROKE
AWAY DAY
On Sunday 8th October 2006, Garden Village Girls Under 12s travelled with other
teams from Swansea
to Pembroke Dock. They played against a mix of teams from Swansea and
Pembrokeshire, played
some very good football, against some very good teams, and had a great day.
Squad: Alex, Vicky, Jordan, Emily,
Rachel K, Charlie, Rachel D, Katie, Jess, Kayleigh, Brittney
An early start for what was definitely an away fixture today, as the girls
headed for Pembroke Dock by coach,
with the supporters following in their cars. Pontardawe and Penyrheol were
coming with us, so ahead lay some
games against good teams that the girls are familiar with, and the unknown
quantity that Pembroke Dock could offer.
With Mark, your usual reporter missing, as Lois was unwell, it was also the
second opportunity in two weeks for me
to watch the girls play, and make some notes.
 
As soon as the supporters had arrived, the girls kicked off against Pontardawe
A. Strong opponents this season,
Pontardawe applied pressure from the beginning, but the girls soon countered
with some fine forward passing moves,
especially from Vicky, who made a skillfull run, easily outpacing the Pontardawe
defence. Her shot hit the crossbar,
and speeding in from the other wing Rachel D was there to shoot again, off the
rebound.
A fast Pontardawe break was deftly handled by Jess, and a quick throw out put
Garden Village on the attack again,
with Alex running the ball forward, before passing neatly to Katie, who shot but
narrowly missed.
 
Play ebbed back and forth between Garden Village and Pontardawe, until Charlie
nudged the ball between two
defenders, straight to Katie's feet. Katies shot was deflected by the goalie,
and Charlie was there, waiting to take
her shot, which hit the upright. There was just time for Jess to make another
classy save before the whistle
blew for half-time. Unusually, this meant moving to another pitch, goals and all
!
 
After a busy first half, full of good, fast football, Garden Village were even
stronger in the second half. Jordan
was a solid wall between Pontardawe and our goal, and some massive kicks by Jess
enabled the girls to take the game
deep into the Pontardawe half. The Garden Village girls seemed calmer and more
confident this half. Katie baffled
the opposition with some fancy footwork, Charlie had some promising runs up the
left wing, and Alex challenged hard as usual in midfield. Although frustratingly
the game ended a nil-nil draw, this was an impressive and exciting opener.
 
Pembrokeshire fielded several teams made up of players from various local teams,
and first up were the Blue &
Yellows, who were a very capable team of very big girls, who dwarfed the Garden
Village girls.
Although another goalless match, this game was also very exciting, with Garden
Village more than holding their own.
In particular, Rachel D was very fast on the wing, Jordan was strong in defence,
and Jess was reassuringly
confident between the posts.
 
Pembrokeshire Yellows next, and a well and truly warmed up Garden Village
dominated this match. Alex pushed
the girls forward, and early on Charlie had a shot denied, only for Emily
to calmly slot in the rebound. Now they had
found the net, there was no stopping the girls. A series of crosses deep in the
Pembrokeshire half saw Garden Village
totally dominating the box, and with the way they were performing, it was only a
matter of time before the defence
was left standing as Rachel K tapped in the girls second goal. Not that the game
was totally one-sided. A Pembrokeshire
break left the Garden Village defence, who had been drawn forward, dashing back,
and Kayleigh successfully took
on three of the opposition like a terrier. The next goal came from a Garden
Village corner, and was a very unlucky
own-goal. Charlie then single-handedly beat four, and after her shot bounced
back off the post, Emily was there to
finish. After putting in a superb performance, and making so many of the plays,
it was only right that Charlie
should finish the game with a well-deserved goal.
 
Pembrokeshire Reds really put the pressure on Jess early in the next game, as
the Garden Village defence struggled
to clear the ball, but soon the girls were back in control and, following a
lovely passing move Rachel D scored.
Katie quickly followed suit, and Garden Village took the game increasingly into
the Pembrokeshire half, with Rachel K
and Kayleigh pulling off some lovely moves. For most of the second half, all the
Garden Village girls were firmly camped
in the opposing half of the pitch, except for one Pembrokeshire break which
found Jess facing the attack alone,
but saving beautifully once again.
 
Another Pembrokeshire Red team next, and Rachel D sped the ball the length of
the pitch, and pulled off a lovely
one-two with Charlie, but her shot was stopped by the goalie. Another long run
from Emily followed, and soon all
the GardenVillage team were forward, bar one, but, despite plenty of shots from
Katie, Rachel D, Charlie and Emily,
were tantalisingly unable to find the goal. With Kayleigh defending the halfway
line, Vicky and Alex fed the ball
forward again and again, until Vicky was roughly handled and the ref decided on
a drop ball.
Pembrokeshire surged forward, Garden Village failed to get back quickly enough
to support Jess, and we were one down.
Now definitely back on form, Charlie soon equalised, but that wasn't good
enough, so she soon put Garden Village in the
lead, when the goalie deflected her right foot shot, but couldn't stop her left
foot from smacking the ball home.
 
With Penyrheol deciding they had played enough games for the day, our last game
was against Pembrokeshire Yellow &
Blues. This match was full of good flowing, passing play, with Vicky and Rachel
D very fast up each wing, and Charlie in
the centre feeding the ball to Katie. Jordan, Alex and Jess held it all together
calmly at the back.
I'm afraid I didn't see the end of this match, as after Katie fell hard and was
taken off, a trip to hospital was called
for, and she had to miss her post-match hot dog. I know it ended nil-nil,
though, so a day with no losses.
 
RESULTS
Garden Village 0 Pontardawe 0
Garden Village 0
Pembrokeshire Girls (Blue & Yellow) 0
Garden Village 5
Pembrokeshire Girls (Yellow) 0
(Emily x2, Rachel K, Charlie, OG)
Garden Village 2
Pembrokeshire Girls (Red) 0
(Rachel D, Katie)
Garden Village 2
Pembrokeshire Girls (Different Reds) 1
(Charlie x2)
Garden Village 0
Pemrokeshire Girls (Yellow & Blue) 0
Thank you to the League for organising, and to the Pembrokeshire Girls teams
(and parents)
for their hospitality, and for an excellent days' football.
 
Taking a break between matches
 
Some shots of the dodgiest game of football we witnessed all day !
 
Enthusiastic supporters enjoying the weather
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