A bright but slightly chilly Sunday morning saw the Divas travelling to Southwick for a mid table clash.
The Divas had a good squad with only captain Amy missing.
The coaches did some planning around the lineups and then attempted a warm up, though after telling the girls to trap the ball with their foot on the ground JB let a ball go under his foot much to the amusement of the girls.
10:00 am approached and the coaches revealed the starting team.
There was a special guest appearance from Junior JB and he was immediately assigned to reprieve his role as goalkeeping coach down behind the goal.
Holly I am sure appreciated the company as a solid defensive display from Amy, Megan and Isla kept Southwick at bay. Lilly was assigned as our defensive midfielder with Khloee moving into the number 10 role. Nyah and Lucy filled the wings with Lexi the out and out striker.
Mid way through the half some a raft of changes as Melody, Niamh, Rose and Shona were introduced.
Half time arrived with the score at 0-0 but the coaches were concerned with some of the play.
The Divas were reminded of the importance of the 3P’s and sent back out on the pitch with a slight tweak.
Lilly was switched to the right wing and Nyah over to the left. The game continued to be open with Southwick catching us a few times on the break and Holly being called into action more often than she would have liked (it had been a while since her coach had been around so they had a lot to catch up on). With a few minutes to go and more personal changes the tactical switch paid off. Nyah cut in from the left following great work from Lilly on the right and managed to bundle the ball home for her first goal of the season.
The away crowd went wild and the sheer jubilation amongst the Divas was beautiful to see. The last few minutes saw the coaches shouting get back, tackle defend more often than they had said any other words the whole game! The defensive resilience paid off and the Divas got their first win of the season!
A great game, and very evenly balanced. A true advert for girls football!