Under 12 Maroon vs Hawks Community Youth U12

Hampshire FA County Cup

Today, the U12 Maroon team welcomed Hawks Community back to our home venue for the second time this week. Unfortunately, this time we faced a vastly improved opposition, resulting in our first competitive defeat in eleven months.

For the second match in succession, the girls started slowly, allowing the opposition too much time and space to dictate play. The opposition took full advantage of this early momentum, moving the ball quickly and putting our defence under immediate pressure.

Their opening goal came after an unchallenged through ball found their striker. Our keeper showed great bravery to come off her line, but the clearance rebounded off the onrushing forward, who reacted quickest to tap home. Just five minutes later, we found ourselves 2–0 down after a break through the centre, a result of hesitant defending in the midfield.

However, the team showed spirit to pull one back just before the half-time whistle. Megan displayed superb determination, chasing down a loose ball, driving towards the box, and striking a superb finish from the edge of the area to cut the deficit to 2–1 heading into the break. Her outstanding individual effort and drive throughout the game rightly earned her the Player of the Match award.

The girls came out for the second half with noticeably more urgency and sharper passing, immediately creating some positive spells of attack and building pressure on the opposition defence.

Cruelly, against the run of play, the visitors struck again to extend their lead to 3–1. This goal appeared to deflate the team, and the opponents seized control of the game, scoring two more in quick succession to put the result beyond doubt.

Although the girls improved their passing and movement as the opposition tired, we were unable to convert our opportunities into goals. Ultimately, we were well beaten by a strong, well-organised opposition who thoroughly deserved the win.

While this was a frustrating day, the quality within this U12 squad is undeniable. The challenge now is to ensure we apply everything we work on in training to match situations consistently. The potential is clearly there; we just need to bring that consistent energy and application from the first whistle. We go again!