A positive match for the U12 Roses this morning as we played some excellent football and took some of our recent practices from training into the match.

Harleen was given freedom to play anywhere on the pitch and scored 5 brilliant goals shooting from different angles showing real confidence on the pitch, she also worked hard defensively to recover the ball and made some strong runs in wide positions.

On the whole, the team played well. With Lenna absent through illness we were pleased to welcome back Katie who always gives us some bite in defence and today was no different, her role was tweaked slightly to allow her to be a spare defender which helped us to cover Lilia, Esme and Lily Rose who all had spells alongside her. Unfortunately Katie picked up an injury during the match but did go back onto the pitch late in the game to her credit, she was determined to play if it was safe to do so.

Lilia and Esme put in some determined performances in defence, both are relatively new to the role and have done so well when called upon. It was especially pleasing to see them be calmer on the ball and take a touch before playing forward or in some cases backwards to maintain possession, additionally there were a few nice turns in the second half from Lilia who kept possession by doing so. Lily Rose continues to go from strength to strength in this position, she is calm on the ball and can see danger and covered her other defenders well. A real improvement in Lily's play has been her confidence to try and find a pass out of defence.

In midfield Caris, Hallie, Tilly, Lily T and also Esme had spells in the game playing in the role. Caris is now finding consistency in her game and is adapting to a new position well. Today she worked hard off the ball, chasing down counter attacks and her positioning allowed her to cut out some balls high up the pitch and she showed some nice touches and made confident passes. Hallie has been a real force in the midfield, she chases down everything showing high energy and makes strong but fair tackles, a real pleasing side of her game today was her confidence on the ball and how she kept possession for the team by either running the ball forward or playing a simple pass. Tilly worked hard despite being under the weather, her work on the ball was strong as she played some nice forward passes and it was good to see her trying to stay on the ball despite being under pressure which gave her an assist for what was a well taken goal. Lily T showed real composure on the ball today, she has found her confidence playing further forward, she is excellent at finding a pass to a Bosworth team mate but it was pleasing to see her today running forward with the ball into space and trying to release a teammate to run through on goal. Esme complimented her defensive display with more of the same in midfield, a determined and spirited performance.

In attack we rotated Devon and Ellie, both ran the oppositions defence hard, it was Devon's first football action for few weeks as she has been unwell but she returned today and it was pleasing to see her back in action. She ran forward well with the ball and had a few shots but could not beat the opposition goalkeeper, she did get an assist though with her excellent play. Ellie managed to get herself two goals, one goal was very memorable with a very well taken finish from distance with both power and accuracy. It was also pleasing to see Ellie receive the ball on the half turn and run at the opposition which is something we have focused on in recent weeks.

At the other end Lyla did everything she needed to do well and there were a couple of really good moments with her and the defence playing out from the back and with a purpose to keep possession of the ball. In the first half Lyla made a superb save and was really unlucky that the opposition was there to finish the rebound. She couldn't do anything more with the other goals conceded as they were both excellent finishes. Lyla is also now commanding her area more and encouraging the girls with confidence, additionally she is making good decisions on whether to come off her line or not.

Player of the Match was awarded to Harleen, her all round play was so strong today and her hard work was rewarded with the 5 goals she scored.

Well done girls on a great performance and thanks to Jag for doing an excellent job on the flag.