The Roses didn’t have a game after a cancellation from the opposition and found a familiar face available from previous seasons in Haunchwood Hornets.

It was a lovely spring morning, perfect conditions for what was an enjoyable game of football.

It was the first time this season the Roses had all players available and we also welcomed Kellie who was coming to watch and is interested in playing for the team so we made sure she had some time on the pitch.

The main message to the girls was to continue working hard, try and win the ball back quicker and play with a bit more aggression.

In the first 15 minutes the game was end to end, Haunchwood attacked in numbers and Bosworth were hitting on the counter through Ellie and Chloe, in the early exchanges Caris had a shot which flashed across goal, this came after she travelled forward with the ball for a good 15 yards, a really encouraging sign. She also shown some nice skill to evade a tackle and made a good choice of pass.

Chloe’s pace and direct play was causing problems for the Haunchwood defence, she turned them a number of times but credit to the Hornets they recovered well. Kellie came on and she looked lively and showed some nice touches on the ball.

Ellie won the ball from a clearance and with the goalkeeper stranded she looked to create space for a shot but was crowded out by the Hornets defence. In midfield Lenna was doing a good job to protect the defence and made some nice passes forward.

Defensively we did well given that Haunchwood attacked us in numbers, Esme and Lilia were running hard and recovered the ball well several times. Tilly and Katie played spare and made a number of clearances which put us on the attack. Katie stepped out of defence well a number of times taking on players and then making a good decision with her passing.

In the final ten minutes of the half Haunchwood really attacked strongly and Bosworth were having to hold on, they hit the post twice from distance and Lyla made a couple of strong saves, one she tipped round the post when it looked to be creeping into the bottom corner.

We got in at half time 0-0 and it was a surprise neither team had scored considering how open the game was.

In the second half, the Roses dropped a midfielder a bit deeper and this calmed the game down a bit and brought more structure into the play.

Caris and Poppy came back on the wings and Lenna and Hallie played centre midfield with Chloe returning upfront. Unfortunately Hallie was struggling with an ankle injury and had to leave the field. The game was not so much end to end this half and both teams got the ball out wide well. Haunchwood scored when a ball from right to left was not dealt with a the striker managed to get a shot away just before we could get a defensive block.

The score remained that way for sometime and Bosworth were playing direct but could not trouble the keeper. Poppy was looking lively down the left side and had started to win her 1v1 battle but then a second goal came with just 15 minutes to go, a well worked move which was well finished close to goal.

In the final 15 minutes Bosworth pushed 3 in attack with Ellie and Kellie as wide forwards, we had a good spell of attacking pressure with both shooting but just wide of goal. Kayleigh was winning the ball in midfield well as was Lily and they were bringing the wide players into the game with some good passes to those wide areas. Ellie capitalised on a goal kick by pressing the defender and she calmly finished when 1v1 with the keeper despite being under pressure from the defender to make it 2-1.

As the Roses just got a lift it was in the final moments of the game and Haunchwood scored a third, some good footwork in the box and a close range finish put the game beyond Bosworth.

The Coaches were pleased with the effort today, Haunchwood were a little bit sharper, you could tell they are used to playing strong opposition in the higher leagues as they were a little more aggressive but Bosworth worked incredibly hard and created chances which was pleasing to see. We awarded Lilia player of the match today, she was against a strong player and she worked really hard to contain her for large parts of the game. She made a number of good tackles and covered the defence well.

AFC Market Bosworth

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