A sunny Sunday in mid-October made the first meeting of the season for the under 16 girls B team a joy to play. One of the division teams, Slazengers, could not make it so Kingston-upon-Hull, Northallerton and Thirsk played 30 minute matches on a revised timetable, so were able to finish early! First up for Thirsk were Northallerton, a local derby. This was an even match and with Thirsk still getting used to playing together and sorting out their positions, there were equal chances at both ends. With a squad of 16, including two goal keepers, the main problem was giving all players a reasonable time on the pitch. The break through came with some determined right side play finding Annabel in the D who found the corner of the net. Despite several other chances the game ran out as a 1-0 win to Thirsk. Having had this warming up game, the team were better set to take on Hull who had beaten Northallerton in the previous game 5-1. With some changes to positions the game started with Thirsk making good interceptions and getting the ball up into the Hull area. After some even opportunities Hull placed a strong strike into the Thirsk D and a deflection got past the goal keeper. Thirsk were straight back into the Hull half and after some great passing found Rosie unmarked in the D who was able to sweep into the open goal. Hull pressed again and from a scramble in the area another goal was conceded. From the restart Thirsk went into the attack and once again found Rosie unmarked in the D to repeat her previous action. 2-2 at half time. Rotating the players to involve all the squad, may have caused some problems as Hull seemed to be able to move the ball about more easily and the second half saw them score twice without reply. The girls played better as the day went on and became more confident in passing and supporting their team mates. With these games giving them some match practice, and some hard work during the training sessions over the next few weeks before the next fixture will see them start to link together better and get promotion to the next division. Thanks to Will for umpiring and to Bev for providing first aid cover. The coffee bar worked well and thanks go to the ladies for keeping the brews hot.