Crystal Palace Ladies FC

U13s entertained Croydon Borough Elite at a very windy Hillside, in what is always a testing encounter from 2 teams which have dominated the league since they met at U10s.

Rick began the game with the usual back 4 of Rebekah betwixt the posts, with Lucy, Emily and Hannah W the usual back 3. Midfield berths were occupied by Shola, Elizabeth, Mia L and Hannah McM, with Rebecca up top. The game began at a frenetic pace and Croydon showed their intent with a fine strike from the edge of the box after intercepting a loose pass from Emily, only to see it cannon of the post with Rebekah stranded. It was obvious that Croydon were keen to pressure CPLFC in their own half and the first 10 mins saw CPLFC struggle to string a set of decent passes together as Croydon dominated the central midfield, though they rarely significantly threatened seriously

As the half moved on, CPLFC began to fashion chances through intelligent use of the width of the pitch and Rebecca began to make life miserable for the Croydon right side of their defence, confident to receive the ball with her back to goal, turn the defender and strike towards goal, and it wasn't long before she stung the hands of the Croydon keeper.

Rick altered the midfield by introducing Elle and Mia Q and both quickly began to influence the game, Elle with her testing runs and Mia Q with her seemingly endless time to pick a good pass. Similarly, after a shaky start in the windy conditions, Hannah W, Lucy and Emily began to get the Croydon attack under control, and Hannah became an attacking threat as the half wore on. Rebekah’s kicking was as accurate as ever, which was some feat in the windy conditions.

It wasn't long before CPLFC got the break they deserved with Rebecca again turning her defender and lashing the ball past the Croydon keeper, in what was to become a prosperous day for her !

As the half due to a close, the game was pretty easily matched and was a physical, but fair affair, with both teams fully committed to the cause and a decent passing game.

The second half began much as the first, some early pressure by Croydon kept Rebekah's hands warm, but CPLFC were the more potent attacking force, exposing what had become obvious, that Croydon's attacking flair masked a less than confident defence.
Elle, Maya, Hannah, Mia L (now operating on the right) and India all began to push Croydon back into their box with intelligent runs both on and off the ball, and with the wind pushing the ball to the far right side of the pitch, Hannah W was able to tuck in from the left and act as auxiliary midfielder.

It was inevitable that CPLFC would get chances to score as the Croydon defence began to crumble and Rebecca made them pay with 2 quick goals to complete her hat trick having left the Croydon defence in her wake with her powerful running from deep midfield

With 3 goals in the bag, Rick decided to alter the team formation pushing Lucy out to right back with Shola in the centre of defence and went for the jugular with Elizabeth, India, Hannah(s), Maya and Elle all given license to attack, attack attack.. and again it paid off with a prolonged period of pressure in the Croydon box, with the keeper been called upon numerous times to stop the avalanche of attempts from coming her way.
CPLFC were dominating play and had overcome the attacking threat of Croydon, Shola, Maya and Emily all had their opponents in their pockets and CPLFCs desire to attack despite a healthy advantage was shown by Rebecca who having received a simple pass from Elle turned and smashed the ball from a tight angle for her fourth of the game.

The wind had gone out of Croydon's sails at this point and they resorted to hopeful long balls, which were generally tidied up calmly by Rebekah, though a couple of free kicks from poorly timed tackles did bring cause for concern.

Amid a flurry of late substitutions, Hannah W began to run riot in a far more advanced role, Emily got a nosebleed as she crossed the half way line and Elizabeth pestered and harried the Croydon defence into numerous mistakes. Shola became imperious, snuffing out hopeful passes in the middle third of the pitch and Maya offered herself willingly as an outlet for the defence, interchanging well with Hannah W.

With mins remaining Mia L robbed the Croydon left back (who had been terrorized by Mia, Hannah McW and Elle) and calmly stroked the ball past the Croydon keeper for a fifth goal, much to her delight, and her watching brother !

The Reds beat a much improved Croydon side since early season, and are still undefeated in all competitions, which is a great achievement but they should remember the first 10 mins of this game, as they clearly were in first gear when the opposition were far more alert from kick off.