Match Reports 10/19/2008

U12 Girls Fuller Hamlets vs Liverpool sfc

On a chilly afternoon at Oxford High School the Fuller Hamlet U12 girls squared off against Liverpool, our local rivals. The Hamlets struck first with a very early goal. With just 90 seconds played in the game Lindsey Keith made a nice run down the right side line. She crossed the ball into the middle where Kristen settled the ball just at the 6 yard mark. Kristen, with her back to the goal made a smart and well executed rolling pass to Ciara who came charging forward to drive the ball into the back of the net, putting the Hamlets up 1-0. With Lindsay F. and Anna G. missing from the game we anticipated some tired legs by the end of the match so we were happy to strike early.

Later in the half we had a nice attempt when Delaney passed the ball to the middle to Ciara who sailed a shot just over the crossbar. A few additional attempts by Kristen, Delaney, Natalia, and Lexie were all either gobbled up by the keeper or just off the mark. The first half also saw a few close calls on our defensive end where through balls were allowed to get through our defenders legs. However, for the most part Maddie N and Maddie C did an excellent job of shutting down the wings, Eve was solid in the middle by stopping most every attempt to get through, and Kate was roaming around in the back to clear out every stray ball or to be an option for a defender under pressure. The defense communicated very well today and covered nicely for each other.

To start the second half we changed our formation to help sure up the midfield and control the ball for longer periods of time. We moved Delaney to the position of attacking center mid to help Ciara who had previously been the lone midfielder in our 4-3-3 formation playing against two center mids in the Liverpool 4-4-2 formation. Delaney settled into her role very effectively and helped to control the ball in the middle third of the field. Not long into the second half we had a corner kick. Kristen hit a rocket into the middle of the area from the corner to set up her second assist in the game. Ciara took one touch to settle, and then very skillfully made one touch to her right before crushing the ball into the back of the net for her second goal of the match and our second goal of the game.

We then sat back and tried to shut down their pressure attacks from midfield. We did a nice job of clearly the ball away, knocking it to the wings for them to take to the corners to help use the clock. Both Megan and Nicole were effective in the second half by pushing the ball down the line and getting the ball knocked to the central players. Nicole and Lindsey both had good strikes on goal to help keep the pressure on the attack. Overall we played well and looked like the better team. In practice this week we will work on our decision making when we have the ball. At times we passed too early when there was no reason to release the ball. At other times when we were in the opponents end we took quick attempts at shots when there was time to control and take better shots. We seem to be sensing more pressure than there truly is at times. As our composure improves, this will go away. All in all this was a very good win. Nice job.

U11 Girls Fuller Hamlets vs Darby SC

On Sunday October 19th, the Romeo G-11 Hamlets visited beautiful Dacey Field to play Darby SC (Franklin, MA) in a match-up of Blue Division leaders. The hosts came into the contest with an unblemished record, while the visiting Blue and White entered with just one tie. Neither team would suffer its first loss on this day as the game ended 0-0. The deadlock was a fitting outcome for a hard fought match between similarly skilled clubs. Defense was the order of the afternoon, and the Hamlet quartet of Symantha Brothers, Jenna Nasuti, Stephanie Hartman, and Kelsie Cummings was up to the task, with Cummings playing perhaps her best game yet for the Blue and White.

As with the last visit to Franklin, the weather was a factor. Working into a blustery headwind in the first half the Hamlets faced pressure from the green-clad hosts who were able to advance deep into their attacking zone, and create some solid scoring chances. Ashley Gresian handled a couple of testers that, without good positioning, might have breached the Hamlet net. But her anticipation and defensive reads were good and she took away the large part of the goal for the angled shots, forcing balls to come to her. She gave up no rebounds on a chilly day which is a testament to good hands. She also displayed the headiness needed to man the position, knowing to come way out on the game’s only break away. The combined shutout posted by Gresian and second half keeper Alessia Romeo (no shots on net), kept alive the team’s unscored on streak through six games in regulation MAPLE play.

After enjoying its first half, Darby had the tables turned on it in session number two. With the wind at its back the Hamlets kept the ball on the attacking side of fifty nearly the entire half. Alternating between attacking the flag wide and cutting inside the defenders, the strikers and mids tried everything to break down the defense. Darby stood tall though, allowing only two good scoring chances. One came from McKenna Kennedy on the right wing, where she took a feed from the midfield and got free on the flank near the endline. But the short angle forced her to launch a belt-high liner into the keeper’s waiting hands. The second was on a through ball to Sidney Cortes, again fed into space by a Hamlet midfielder. The speedy striker, coming in from the left, arrived a split second after the keeper and couldn’t tuck home a rebound following the collision. The play resulted in a five minute injury stoppage, as the goalie was attended to by the Darby staff.

That theme continued for the remainder of the game as injuries mounted on both sides. Unfortunately it meant the Blue and White didn’t get the benefit of a full clock in their turn with the wind as several stoppages and one long referee break, were not added to the game’s running time. Having allowed enough “play ons” in the first half to establish a physical tenor (only five fouls total were called all game, 3 on the Hamlets), the referee had to be consistent and left the outcome of the match in the hands of the players, to be sorted out physically where necessary. To be sure, there was a nice blend of skill along with the hitting, and it made for an entertaining game in the waning minutes. But the lack of a long cross or an over the top ball meant the Hamlets couldn’t take advantage of the regulation sized pitch, a huge field that Darby has acclimated to well with its bend, don’t break, overlapping defensive style. As with its only other tie of the season, the Hamlets dominated the final minutes of the game, but the pressure did not translate into any scoring.

The tie moved the team’s record to 4-0-2 on the season.