Wight Eagles U15s travelled across the Solent for a doubleheader against Hythe & Dibden, returning victorious in both games.
HYTHE & DIBDEN U15 1-2 WIGHT EAGLES U15
The Island side arrived only just 5 mins before kick-off.
The girls started on the back foot and got caught out quickly in the 1st 5 minutes conceding a quick goal (1-0). Eagles’ goalkeeper Lizzie Dodds then stopped a 2nd Hythe goal attempt.
The Eagles then started to close their opponents down quickly, resulting in Hythe giving the ball away to Liv Burt, who put an inch-perfect cross in for Sophie Lewis to calmly finish for the island side (1-1).
The girls put the pressure on and quickly moved to get the ball forward after halftime. A great layoff by Beth Bolton found super sub Dani Robinson on the edge of the box, who found the top corner of the net to seal the 3 points for the Eagles (1-2).
Player of the match: Lizzie Dodds
WIGHT EAGLES U15 3-1 HYTHE & DIBDEN
Again the Eagles were slow out the box and again the Hythe forwards made all the chances and looked likely to score 1st. With pressure mounting, there was a controversial goal shout as the ball slipped out of Lizzie Dodds’ hands to go over the goal line (0-1).
The Island side then began to turn the screw with Dani Robinson twisting and turning the defenders inside out before laying a perfect pass into the path of Beth Bolton to coolly slot home her first Eagles goal (1-1).
The Eagles then played some outstanding football. In their next attack, the Island side found the net in an incredible 4-pass move, from goalkeeper Lizzie Dodds to full back Connie Stinton, to play the ball inside to Beth Bolton, who split the defence before finding Jasmine Simpkins, who finished in the bottom corner to take the lead (2-1).
In the final 10 minutes, there was some heroic defending from Connie Stinton, who threw herself at every chance to stop her team from conceding. Connie cleared the ball from a Hythe corner, which resulted in a quick counterattack from box to box with Tawnie Siddall finishing the game as a contest (3-1).
Player of the match: Connie Stinton
Manager Dan Verstraeten said:
“In the 1st game, we weren’t awake and got punished for that, but the girls managed to grind a result out of it and took the 3 points.
“In the 2nd game, again we were slow out the blocks and lacked concentration early on, but then something just clicked, and the girls showed how quickly the game can change when you think it’s running away from you.”
“The moves for all 3 goals were perfect. It was like I was watching the women’s euros again.”
WIGHT EAGLES U13 3-0 HAMBLE FALCONS
A fantastic result as the young Eagles bounced back to winning ways against a very tough and resilient Hamble team,
The 1st goal came in the first 15 mins when a break by Hamble was intercepted and quickly played forward through the back line, where Isla Ash latched onto the ball and hit a 1st-time shot from 20 yards into the top of the net in what was a contender for goal of the season (1-0).
The 2nd goal came early in the 2nd half when a break down the right wing led to a cross-box pass which found an unmarked Poppy Rowland, who coolly slotted the ball home (2-0).
The 3rd and final goal came after a fierce battle in the centre of midfield, which saw the ball played out to the left wing, where Kelsie Ronan got the better of the defender and sprinted towards the box before firing a cross-goal shot straight into the far side of the net to complete a fantastic game for the young side (3-0).
Manager Scott Ronan said:
“Last week was a disaster, and the girls reset this week, and I hope we are back on track now until the end of the season.
“They all put a shift in today, and I’m very happy to get the result and a clean sheet.”
Player of the match: Summer French
