The last time these 2 Teams met, the game was evenly matched up at Helensburgh in Round 1 of the Competition. Both Teams have improved noticeably from their first clash and it showed in the way they played today.

Both teams started the match with only 10 players as the Public Holiday weekend had an impact on the playing numbers from both Teams. Helensburgh were the first Team to score early in the first half as Russell Vale again took some time to warm to the task at hand.

Mid way through the first half, the girls began to find their confidence and rhythm. Their passes were hit with more power and they started to find their targets more consistently. It wasn’t before too long that with constant Russell Vale attacking pressure the opportunities on goal started to appear. Tyla was the first and Casey was the second who narrowly missed tough chances on goal. With this applied pressure from the Russell Vale girls, Helensburgh were forced into a few mistakes with 1 resulting in a hand ball in the box, that gave us a penalty kick from the spot. Keely coolly and calmly put the ball in the back of the net and it was 1 all and Russell Vale were back in the game!

It was 1 all at half time and we knew that the girls were tired by the fact that Mark and I could actually get a few words in at the interval whilst they got their breaths back. This is quite rare as the girls genuinely have a great time together and they always have so much to talk about…

The second half was the best half of football we have put together all year. Once Tyla got us ahead early in the second half with her first goal of the year-Great stuff Tyla!!!!! the Team never looked back. Alyse got a goal and then Jade with her first goal of the Year- Great stuff Jade!!!!! this made the game as good as over!

The final score was 4-1 and this was a fair assessment of the difference between the 2 Teams today and re enforced the improvement that our Team is achieving!! The girls have come along way in 10 weeks and I strongly believe that the best is still yet to come and we will see that over the coming weeks. A special thank you to Paul Jones from the Illawarra High Performance Unit who came down to training on Thursday night, Paul passed plenty of tips to the players and Mark and myself and he would of been pleased with the way the girls played today.

It was another great Team performance and right across the Field our girls excelled!
Meg and Hannah- who was our captain today and shared central defender position and Goal keeper duties with Meg. This combination is working well and both girls are improving in both their defending and goal keeping skills. Their partnership is becoming a real strength and is a major reason why we have one of the better goal differences of the competition.

Our defenders today Chloe and Candice were once against outstanding! Candice is rock solid on the right side and is rarely passed by an opposing player. She consistently turns defence into attack and her passing accuracy today was again first class! Chloe’s defence was great today and her positional play continues to improve. Chloe is our best and most consistent communicator amongst the Team and she can be regularly heard offering words of encouragement to her Team mates throughout the whole game.

Our mid field of Jasmine, Keely and Jade were a constant threat in attack and were back assisting defenders when required. Jasmine continues to improve her skills and development and had easily her best game of the Year today. She did plenty of running and her accurate passing helped set up Tyla’s goal in the second half. Jade had another strong game and capped her performance off by scoring a goal from a penalty kick late in the game. She has taking a liking to the Mid Field and is forming a good partnership with Keely and Jazz. Keely was everywhere once again today and her positional play and reading and understanding of the game was once again on display today. Her goal got us back in the game and she was unlucky not to score a few more!

The forward line up of Alyse, Casey and Tyla were sensational and their Team work, communication and overall performance went along way to securing victory for us today! Casey was great down the left wing and made plenty of long runs and her passing was her best of the year so far. She was a constant threat and nearly scored a goal on a few occasions! Tyla was another girl had her best game of the year. She was constantly breaking the defensive line with her speed and was rewarded with the 2nd goal of the game. Alyse was everywhere today and she is continuing to improve her all-round game. After initially being a reluctant striker, she has really grown into her role and she has a number of goals to show for it!

At the halfway mark of the season the girls once again have made us all very proud!! Mark and I couldn’t be happier with how they are playing and their attitude to training, their Team mates and the Club. They have shown tremendous improvement in their skills development and knowledge of the game and also their roles in the Team. CONGRATULATIONS to all the girls on another great win- lets keep the momentum going and continue to have fun, play hard and enjoy the 2nd half of the season!

Regards

Michael