Cleeve Ladies 1 - 5 Bitton Ladies

Cleeve were at the end of a very disappointing scoreline, which the performance deserved.

The signs were not good prior to kick off….I arrived by 1300 and Bitton were already here with their warm-up grid already laid out and ready to go. The Cleeve warm-up began slowly and was lacklustre…..and this was the prelude to the game as a whole. Bitton were on it …We weren’t.

Cleeve were fortunate to only be trailing 0-2 at half time….it could have been eight….We gave the ball away far too easily and then failed to get it back. There was spaces all over the pitch which Bitton exploited to the full. I emphasised the need to pick up players….and not to chase shadows….Bitton were far too good a team to allow them space and time on the ball.

With 3 players on the bench I had to make sure that they had a fair crack of game time along with trying to Move players onto different positions in order to try and gain some sort of parity in the game. I was sad to see and here the response to the changes.

Bitton score 2 more goals before Cleeve got a consolation goal when the keeper pushed an in swinging corner into her own net. With 15 mins to go Lucie came off with a head injury…. Let’s hope she is ok. Bitton round off a comfortable victory with a 5th not far from time.

FT 1-5

This was one of the most disappointing performances I have seen from the Ladies in my time since I took on the coaching. Sometimes you play against sides that are better than you…and I dont mind losing to those sides if the players try to compete and try to do the right things.
Today was not one of those days. I will certainly be reflecting on my own approach as a coach and how the team can get back on track and move forward.

Player of the Match - Beth Emms…..without whom, It would have been double figures against…