Derby day in Rugby saw the U11 Borough Girls make the short trip to Butlin Road to take on Rugby Town.

The girls arrived at Butlin Road in a confident mood determined to take their excellent form into 2022 against a good Rugby Town team.  A big pitch coupled with only having 2 subs available meant the girls had every opportunity to run off their Christmas indulgences.

Borough set up in their usual formation and started the game on the front foot pinning the opposition back with good attacking play down both sides from Amber & Anna creating chances to opening the scoring.  Ruby was using her strength up front to run through a get a couple of shots away which were well saved by the Town goalie whilst Megan ensured the team kept driving forward picking the ball up in midfield and dictating play. 

Peyton & Leah started in defence and made several excellent interceptions to stop a few breaks by Rugby Town whilst Chloe was controlling her area expertly to collect the ball as is came through.  As the half wore on Borough kept pushing forward however were caught out on the break & a well taken shot from Rugby Town seen them edge ahead.

Lyra came on to shore up the defence and made several good tackles whilst Emily slotted in well to the midfield and showed her excellent passing skills to keep the team moving forward.  The remainder of the 1^st half was fairly even with defences on top for both teams.

Into the 2^nd half and Borough came out of the traps fast determined to get back in the game.  Through good play from Amber, Ruby & Anna the girls earned a succession of corners and one of these taken well by Megan managed to evade everyone to get the girls the reward their play deserved. 

The girls were really eyeing up further goals and the rock solid defending by Peyton, Lyra & Leah allowed the rest of the team the freedom to flood forward but some good defending and poor luck kept Borough out.   Rugby Town remained dangerous on the break however Emily was breaking up play in the middle of the park and Chloe remained vigilant in goal making a crucial clearance towards the end.

The girls kept pushing forward until the end and on another day could have had converted some more opportunities however it was an excellent display in the first game of the year against a good team.  The improvement in this team since the last time we played at Butlin Road has been nothing short of amazing & we look forward to seeing what this brilliant group of girls can do in 2022.

Player of the match for an excellent midfield performance was Emily