Women's 2nd XI vs Gravesend Ladies L2

Where do I start?

The plan was to meet at the roundabout and leave at about 11am. Tracy messaged the group at 1104 asking where everyone was. People soon started arriving, so that was positive. 1133 and we learned that Sally's car had broken down in a dangerous spot on the Thanet Way. The troops rallied and shared the load of passengers & kit, leaving Sally & Ruocco with (but not in) the car.

10 players were now on their way to Gravesend with chat in the Teamo group flying - are the coppers good looking, are the shirts in Steve's car... the normal stuff.

All at once, the squad arrived, and the pre-match team talk started. "Let's go have some fun". Ruocco called Julie, wanting everyone's shirt numbers. I think we went round the room three times, and I'm sure I could remember all of them if I tried. We headed out to the pitch, concerned for the safety of the two we left behind, concerned for the state of Cat's lungs, and started a gentle warm-up. We soon learned that they had been escorted to safety, and the RAC were en-route.

Lineup- Emily in goal. Kryssi RB, Cheryl CB, Olga LB. Julie DM. Sara RM/RW. Tracy AM. Ineta LM/LW. Cat CF. Maddie everywhere else.

As for the game... Gravesend scored quite early on from open play, making the most of their advantage. We were definitely the more communicative team, and soon our "disadvantage" wasn't noticable. After all, the umpires hadn't realised we were one short on pitch. Ville put together some solid passes and we put some decent pressure in their D. They retaliated with a second goal, despite the best efforts of our defence. We were working hard, and together.

Half time and we were 2-0 down. The jelly babies, a gift from our umpires, were handed round and the team talk consisted of "We're doing amazing, let's keep it up. Sally and Ruocco are on their way!" Spurred on by this good news we headed back onto the pitch after taping up Emily's kicker.

Not long into the second half, a clearance pinged off a Gravesend player's stick straight up into her forehead. Time stopped. Ice applied. Player left the field with some new (small) holes in her face and a headache. Thankfully, she's ok. They scored two more. I think one was a short. They had quite a ferw of those. The rest were defended superbly by Emily and her cohort of defenders.

Shortly after, we saw Sally & Ruocco warming up on the sideline! The joy! Sally was first on to replace Kryssi at RB, and Ruocco joined me up front.

55 minutes in, and Maddie won a short. Julie injected the ball to Sally, controlled it well, and sent it to Tracy, who had stepped in for the slip. It went through a crowded goalmouth and in! We were ecstatic! Gravesend, not so much. That definitely lifted us. That didn't last too long, as Ineta took a ball to the leg and hopped off the field for a mo. We then realised we needed three goals in about 10 minutes if we were going to win this.

After some rolling substitutions, we were awarded another short. Naturally Sally stepped up. Another fine delivery from Julie, and *THWACK* - it went like a bullet into the bottom corner. The final whistle blew. We might have lost 4-2, but you wouldn't have known it.