With a pushback at 5, and the Halloween social at 7, the nerves were jangling before the match even started. The first quarter was South’s to lose. We played calmly, keeping the space and opening up channels, and were rewarded by textbook slip goal from Hattie off a short corner 10 minutes in. City were inspired by the football and spent a lot of the first quarter being penalised for feet.

As the sun set, so did the quality of the game. With only one sub, fatigue kicked in and we lost control in the second quarter. City seized the moment and scored a surprising goal 29 minutes in.

The atmosphere in the game left a lot to be desired with City shouting more at each other than us. As a positive to them, they tackled aggressively and consistently got in front of us to intercept our passes. They had their go-fast juice over half time, and scored two goals in quick succession, one of which was off a short corner. Our energy levels returned with some beautiful play around the 45-minute mark, where we benefitted from short passes to get into their D. We kept the pressure, and were rewarded with another beautiful short corner goal, this time from a post swipe by Polly.

There’s not much to say after that. City’s aggressive play and effective use of the press against us meant we struggled to get the ball from backs to forwards, despite our backs keeping their cool and our mids running their legs off. One last goal by City sealed the deal, and we wrapped up the game with a sense of relief as well as pride. We had reset after half time and played our game, where at moments stress and shouting had made us lose our cool.

Highlights included the ref asking if his watch was correct because we did indeed still have a whole 10 minutes left to play, after the 3 hours we felt we’d all already played. Special mention to Hattie and Rosie for calming the team down. LOM should go to Dalin of the South L6s, who was playing for City.

POM was awarded to Hattie for brilliant tackles and persistence, as well as a beautiful goal. Nominations also went to Rosie for her wall like defence, Elly for stepping into goal and warding off City, Daisy likewise for great defence and charging the ball up the wings and to Avi, who worked tirelessly in attack and midfield sprinting the ball to our attacking D.

LOM was awarded to Harry, for being one of the least likely to receive a caution after the opposition persistently hit at her ankles, and bizarrely she mentioned it. Keep calm (and quiet) and carry on ey…Other lemony votes went to the opposition, Dalin for playing for the wrong club, Avi’s inner voice (which would also be carded) and Polly, for sadly blocking a great save in the D with her foot (we’ve all been there!).

A well fought game. We’ll be excited to take them on on home turf.