RD2 '17: Demons vs Lions (W.Prem)

Mitch “Boxy” Skelly | 17.05.17

Wandsworth Demons 7.6 (48) Def North London Lions 0.0 (0)

Following great wins by both teams last week, the stage was set for a cracking contest in round 2 between the Lions and Demons premiership women’s sides. We know the quality of the Lions following 3 defeats last season, so training really stepped up a notch in an effort to get everything right for Saturday.

From the moment the coin was tossed things started to look promising, captain Becks winning the call and choosing to kick with a breeze that no team had scored against in the earlier premiership match. Whilst having the wind is great, it’s what you do with it that counts.

Our midfield combination worked a treat, Sophie was winning the taps, B was in and under feeding out, MC was performing an awesome shut down role, Onora was everywhere doing everything and Tossa provided some classy touches as well as some grunt work. When the ball went forward the combination of Linda and Noodles looked deadly, with Gab, Beth, Socksy, Bridgey and Tessa all getting their hands on the footy to create goals. It was 3 goals to 0 at the first break, however Katie was down with a knee injury and we had to contend with the strong breeze in the 2nd.

The next quarter of football was possibly the best I’ve seen the She Dee’s produce since joining the club last year. Despite the wind we kept the footy in our attacking 50m area with huge amounts of work done by the midfield, with support from Steve, Maddy and Nom on the wings. The wall was locking the ball in and Tessa played the loose player in defence role to perfection. In the forward line Noodles was marking everything and managed to slip out the back to kick the first goal of the day up the hill into the wind. Snakesy, Trucker, Becks and Pudge were winning the footy and repelling the Lions attacks, Nic, Damo and Princess were rocks solid in the backline. Greg was asked to play Full Forward... Then after we explained where that actually was, provided another strong target up forward.

During the first 5 minutes after half time it looked as though the Lions may have been getting on top. They came out strong and hard and managed to work the ball forward for a few shots on goal, if not for the desperation shown by our backline they may have scored. On several occasions we seemed to have gotten a bit lost as to which player we should be marking, something we will need to work on for next week and at training. Once the Dee’s did get back up and running we managed to pile on another 3 goals, looking more and more dangerous each time the ball went forward. The Demon’s crowd was right behind the team and could see a big win coming.

At the final change the message was clear – keep the Lions scoreless. With tired legs and a strong breeze this was going to be tough. The ball was regularly in our backline, however not once could the opposition break us down and score. Unfortunately the last quarter was marred by a serious knee injury to a Lion and a high shot on Naomi Fim which left her dazed and bruised, however nothing can take the gloss of another clean sheet for our backline and an unbeaten start to 2017.

With 10 or more players out to represent GB, London All-Stars and Ireland at the Footy Carnival next weekend there will be plenty of opportunity for some players to step up for a match against the Giants who are coming off a win over the Hawks. If we train like we did last we there is no reason we can’t make it 3 on the bounce.

Best players - it was hard to pick 5, however Onora deservedly got the mug Saturday night. Special mention to MC, Pudge and Snakesy who were all assigned a task and stuck to it admirably.

Goals - Onora 2, Linda, Beth, Tossa, Noodles, Gab

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