Grit and gristle against the Danbury & Bicknacre Royals

Team Sheet : Cole; Ethan; Fearne; Freya; Isaac; Jayden; Lewis; Maddison; Oliver; Sierra; Thomas; Zach

Away again, this time to the Royals. And it’s safe to say not only will Iguana fans not have any nails left by the end of the season, they are unlikely to have any limbs left at this rate.

The Iguanas again started off brightly with plenty of early pressure. Freya was thinking on her feet and passing the ball through beautifully. Sierra (on her 8th birthday! Happy Birthday Sierra!!) showed the same strength and resolve as in the first game. Jayden made plenty of inroads into the Royals box, and several corners to the Iguanas were well taken but came to nothing.

The Royals managed to get out of their half after a good few minutes of Iguanas’ attacking, but good awareness from Zach, and good calling from Oliver and Ethan made sure there was no danger. A couple of Royals corners were easily dealt with, Ethan getting in on the defensive act.

This was to set the scene for the whole game.

A lovely goal kick saw a very strong press with Sierra, Cole and Freya pushing forwards and releasing Jayden who had a cracking shot from a wide angle. Unlucky not to score.

As fast as Jayden was, the Royals were doing well defensively. And had quite a bit of defending to do throughout the first quarter.

Lewis, Isaac, Fearne and Maddison gave Sierra, Zach, Cole and Freya well-earned rests.

Strong play in midfield with Fearne and Maddison constantly battling for the ball led to a few more corners which were nicely taken by Lewis. On any other day these would have caused real problems for the opposition, but not today unfortunately.

Then it was the Royals’ turn for an attacking break. They almost caught us napping but Oliver saw the danger, shouting his defence to action and Ethan and Isaac doing a great job of recovering the situation.

As we approached half time, Zach came on to give Ethan a break.

Iguanas had another decent spell of pressure leading to a corner and a strong shot from Lewis, but again dealt with nicely by the Royals before they broke towards the Iguanas’ goal. Thomas tracked back really well showing good speed and strength, and Zach joined in to snuff out the danger.

Half time.

The second half started much the same as the first. Early pressure from the Iguanas and a good shot from Jayden, but the Royal’s keeper saved it well.

Then another good Iguanas’ break lead to the closest chance of the whole match, with Jayden looping in a shot from outside of the box which rattled the Royal’s crossbar, but that was as close as we came to breaking the deadlock.

The Iguanas were proving strong in midfield and pushing forwards, but a lack of discipline in passing as we approached the Royal’s box meant less strong shots than our play should have given. The Royals dealt with the shots well, but were fortunate not to have had more danger from the outset.

Lewis, Maddison and Isaac came on for Freya, Sierra and Zach.

As the game got into its final quarter both teams were feeling the pressure and showed a lot of grit and gristle in their play. Tackles in midfield were getting harder – fair, but hard. Ethan being on the receiving end of a number.

The Royals had the upper hand in this quarter, their strongest of the match. As tiredness started to kick in they had a couple of shots, but they went well wide. Then a break from midfield saw a 1 on 1 situation for them with Oliver. The Iguanas’ keeper stood his ground until he knew where the Royal’s attacker was going and dealt with the late shot nicely.

A rare Iguanas break in this quarter led to a shot from Cole but it was taken too early to trouble the Royals too much.

Just as we looked to be losing concentration in defence, Ethan dug in and doggedly ran after the Royals attackers, to end up on the receiving end of another 50:50 challenge.

Isaac came on for Ethan for the last few minutes (Fearne having replaced Cole a little earlier).

Plenty more grinding the ball out in midfield by both teams with less play in the danger areas eventually led to the final cross of the game from the Royals, dealt with tidily by Oliver right on the whistle for the final time.

A tough game in a different way to our first of the season. Our play wasn’t as fluid and we lost concentration at both ends of the pitch from time to time. That we never looked like losing the game is massive testimony to the sheer grit put in by all in the middle of the pitch, and how far the team have come in the last 12 months.

A clean sheet was also a huge positive and good reward for strong defensive displays from Ethan, Isaac and especially Zach who was resolute.

Iguana of the Match : Zach – fearless defending, getting stuck in to tackles and solid clearances. Also helped Iguanas press forwards without forgetting to track back. Great display.