St. Mary's headed down to Grange Junior this afternoon. This was Grange's first game of the season (our second). We had a very good turnout for our team having 11 of the girls at the game, with Weronika coaching from the side of the pitch, recovering from an injury. Weronika speaking before the game said "The girls are very positive about today's game and they hope they win". 

The team started off very strong, resisting the pressure from Grange who took multiple shots at goal which were taken comfortably by Molly Mc. our super keeper, who is showing great confidence in goal. She was supported by excellent defenders that included Layna, Molly M., Charlie, Lucia and Sophie, who were relentless. Olivia did a very good job defending in midfield and turning many of these into scoring opportunities. Jasmine had a rocky start with her first couple of throw-ins, however with some pitch-side coaching she mastered it by the end of the game. Just before half-time whistle Grange scored a goal from their throw in, because St. Mary's were not marking the other players.

In the second half the subs came on, bringing more energy to the game resulting in more time spent in Grange's half. Unfortunately, the strikers were unable to score because they were not using the space available effectively. We will look at improving this over the next couple of weeks at school. Lara had the best chance of scoring in the match she was 1:1 with the goalie who managed to save it. Weronika said at the end of the match "The girls were proud of the score and that they had a lot of fun." The improvement from last week was excellent to witness, and we really look forward to see what this team can achieve this season.

Next week against Castle, due to Year 6's at Fairthorne, most of the Year 5's will be representing St. Mary's. 

Good Luck!