Haslingden Juniors 5-3 Burnley

Match Report – Haslingden Girls Under 9’s v Burnley Under 9’s
At Burnley 20.09.15 – Keeping up the Pressure!
The team were on a high after last week’s success but had been warned of the challenge that would be brought by Burnley. Burnley looked strong and were in formation with five minutes to spare while Haslingden got vital last chance talk from coach Steve. Gaby Rosthorn took up position in goals, supported by Holly Taylor, Lyla Cullen and Gracie Wilson in defence, Meisha Gamble and Alannah Pollard in midfield and Fern Ashworth up front. Pressure was put on from the start from both sides which saw two excellent saves by Gaby who clearly was putting her all into this new role. This was returned in force by dominant play from Haslingden who had a few corners and then a cross from Pollard gave Gamble her first goal on the scorecard. Burnley realised this game wasn’t going to be so easy and both teams settled down and kept pushing back until a goal came from Burnley. Burnley appeared to be on a roll but defence team held strong and Cullen stopped a good break. A great throw in from Gamble gave Pollard the chance she had been looking for to score. Itching to get on, Missy Lou Harvey came on for Wilson and was full of energy. Burnley weren’t going down without a fight and knuckled down with some great runs and breaks intercepted by Pollard who wasn’t going to let anyone outrun her. A Burnley corner saw a great chip into the nets which Rosthorn had little hope of saving. Taylor & Harvey worked well together forcing Burnley wide of goals and the first half ended 2-2.
The team were revitalised and were hungry for more goals in the second half. Ashworth and Pollard continued to push the Burnley defence and Pollard scored a cracker. Rosthorn & Wilson defended well and Taylor who had taken on goalkeeping kept those fantastic goal kicks coming to supply the team with some great opportunities up the field but Burnley held strong and came back to make it 3-3. Wilson’s experience came in useful and a good throw in, combined with a pass from Pollard, saw Ashworth ensure Haslingden were back in front. Burnley players number 12 & 6 came back with some good runs but Cullen and Rosthorn ensured they couldn’t get far. Wilson had an attempt go wide but Gamble wasn’t going to let the Burnley go level again and scored again making it 5-3. The last few minutes almost became a scrum but Rosthorn continued to make some excellent clearances which overall gave her this week’s Player of the Match.