The Knole Park U18 Girls put up a great fight against Canterbury on Sunday but were sadly on the losing side of a 3-1 result. A hat-trick from Canterbury’s England U18 star was too big a hurdle to overcome for the young team. A penalty corner strike from Alex gave the team late hope, but it wasn’t enough on the day.
As the match started it was clear that the two teams were very evenly matched. Alice R in goal was however the busier of the two GKs as she thwarted the best of the Canterbury attacks early on. Unfortunately a misplaced pass in midfield gave the Canterbury forward the ball and she couldn’t but fail to score. As the half progressed Elloise, Bea & Cordy started to influence the attacks more and it was Elloise through the right hand side that created a guilt-edge chance for the KP forward, but she pushed the ball wide. The defensive partnership of Alice G and Elen also started to give Knole Park a stronger platform to play from and launch more attacks. Unfortunately it was from one of these attacks that Canterbury scored from on the break to make it 2-0 at half time.
Some changes at half time saw a significantly improved performance in the second half. Elen became very dominant in the press, making many well timed tackles and stopping Canterbury’s influential midfielder. The energy from both Imogen and Grace R was the catalyst for putting increasing pressure on the opposition defenders and Alex was always a threat in attack. It was also great to see Grace E and Ella W stepping up to play so well too. As the match continued it looked increasingly likely that Knole Park would get the next goal, however another turnover in the middle of the pitch was latched onto by the Canterbury forward and she hit a superb backhand into the bottom corner. 3-0. Despite this set-back the girls continued to dominate. Elloise was sublime through the right hand side and chances came and went. In the final 5 minutes she won another penalty corner and Alex stepped up to smash it home! 3-1. We couldn’t, could we…. Moments later an excellent run from Imogen set up an amazing opportunity for the girls. With the goal open the ball was sadly pushed wide. On the final whistle the girls won another penalty corner, but again failed to score. 3-1 to Canterbury it finished, but it was a very positive experience for the team. Well done to all of the girls who were excellent throughout.
The girls now drop into the Plate competition where they will play Bromley & Beckenham on the 6th June.
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