It looked like it was going to be a grey day for our away match at Bury, with a small bit of drizzle while we warmed up. Cars were parked in strategic places to avoid any possible aerials from @Jenny going over the walls surrounding the walled pitch. But soon the skies cleared a little and we unexpectedly got bright skies and a bit of sunshine later in the game - we were not prepared for the muggy heat and sunshine. 

It was set to be an interesting game, with South having lost the previous two encounters against Bury but with L2s promotion last season we were in an equivalent division so we had a good chance of a better score. 

With the main focus from Dani to enjoy the game and put into practice what we learnt in training, the friendly game started with South pressurising and Bury responding. A few long passes by Bury up the wings in an attempt to drive the ball up to South’s goal saw a few tense moments in South’s D. However South rallied and saw some expert attacking streaks towards the Bury D from @Tess and @Dani down the wings. 

South had a few shorts but sadly with no result. And the defenders @Niamh @Grace @Feline @Aoife @Jenny each in turn were put under pressure with a few Bury shorts and shots on goal. Amongst some spectacular saves from Bury’s hard shots at goal, @Bryony did an amazing headbutt save off her grilled visor on her helmet - the sound shocking everyone but the defence managed to rally and clear the ball out. But we soon retaliated to the Bury’s attack, with @Tiffany scoring (her first goal for the club) off a rebound. 

At half time, we all gathered our thoughts and with only one goal, we knew the win was not guaranteed. But soon into the second half Bury equalised with a goal. South dug in their heels, focusing on movement, the press (well rallied by @Rhi) and strong passes. Both @Sophie and @Tamsin were key with intercepting the ball and distributing the ball to the wings and centre - some great work. With a drive in from @Rebecca this led to a scrap in Bury’s D and South came away with the goal, scored by @Jess with @Tiffany leaping out the way to avoid a foot!

Towards the end of the second half, Bury were getting frustrated with our possession which nearly led to a green card for one of their players. 

@Feline did a few great runs with the ball into the D, with the final run resulting in a rebound with @Jess strategically placed and pushing the ball straight into the goal.  It was an end to the great fun game, enjoyed by all. We are back in business!! 

There were POM votes for Bryony for some excellent goalkeeping which ultimately kept us in the game and the Bury score low! But Sophie came away with POM for her excellent work rate, great distributing and strong on the ball. 

LOM was equally won by Feline and Tiff, who was the more deserving of the two given she grabbed @Grace’s stick before preceding to sub onto the pitch.