Weekend Round Up 26/01/19 & 27/01/19

Saturday

 

ANOTHER WIN FOR THE SECONDS

Leicester 2s hosted Boots 1 at LGS for one final friendly before the season restarts next week.

Despite giving the ball away within the opening few seconds, a characteristic regular supporters of this side will recognise, it was Leicester who started the stronger of the two sides.
The home side dominated possession but failed to create any clear opportunities in the final third. Despite their age the youthful (average age of 17) Leicester back four connected well with the midfield and forwards out letting nicely in the opening exchanges.
Boots chances were limited to counter attacks but Leicester forced their opportunities to be taken from wide areas. A flurry of Boots corners were well defended and the sides went into the break 0-0.

The second half started with more of the same and it was Leicester who broke the deadlock. After a turnover high up the field the ball fell to Sandy in the circle who calmly slotted past the keeper.
Leicester’s goal spurred the away side on and they launched attack after attack but the defence held firm. Again a number of corners came and went without any goals thanks to excellent running and a handful of fine saves from Jenna.
Leicester slowly came back into the game and created more chances of their own. After a slick move down the left the ball fell to Margot in the circle whose close range shot was cleared by the keeper.
Despite pressure in the final few minutes the Leicester defence kept Boots at bay and completed their second win in January.

Leicester restart their league campaign against big spending University of Nottingham 1s next Saturday.

 

LRHA Cup Quarter-Final

Another fine performance by Leicester 3s saw them coast into the next round of the cup with a 4-0 victory over Half Century.
Having struggled to find the net before Christmas Leicester 3s have definitely made up for this in January, scoring 22 goals in 3 games without conceding.
Today Kayleigh Glover and Annie Sibston added to their goal tally with India Norwood scoring twice in her attempt to catch up with the leading goal scorers.
Man of the match - Annie Sibson

The 3s play Leicester 4s this weekend in the return to league action 10:30 pushback at LGS

 

LRHA Plate Quarter-Final

Leicester 5s 3-2 Roundhill

After the disappointment of a heavy defeat against Half Century, it was onwards to the Plate competition. Not too much pressure though, as Gaynor described the match as “a very winnable game” and from the start it would seem to be the case. Roundhill started the game with just 10 players, whereas Leicester had a squad of 15. It was pressure from the start on the Roundhill defence, who defended deep. The pace of Sophie in particular caused Roundhill all sorts of problems. Chance after chance came and went and it seemed inevitable Leicester must score.
Unfortunately, with after about 15 minutes Roundhill had a chance against the run of play, after a defensive mix up and placed the ball clinically into the corner of the goal. Leicester 5s 0-1 Roundhill.

Leicester continued to pile on the pressure, more chances were missed, but then Joy scored an equaliser. Leicester 5s 1-1 Roundhill.
And so the pressure continued, and a few minutes later, a shot from one of our forwards was not dealt with by the Roundhill goalkeeper, and in the scramble the ensued, Lauren stuck the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs to take the lead. Leicester 5s 2 - 1 Roundhill.

Everything seemed fine, Leicester had the lead, but then just before half time, again against the run of play, Roundhill got into the Leicester circle and their shot beat Aleena. Leicester 2-2 Roundhill.

Half time came and one of Roundhill’s players had to leave. Roundhill down to 9 players, which became 8 when Sarah, who had done some brilliant work in midfield accidentally brought down a Roundhill player, who had to leave the field. There was then some debate as to whether the match should be abandoned due to the amount of players however after some counting everyone realised there were 8 players on the field.
It was naturally, all Leicester pressure. At one stage the last defender was Jane standing close to the halfway line. Chance after chance passed Leicester by. It seemed we would have the anguish of penalties. In the 62nd minute, after considerable pressure. Leicester won a penalty corner. Taken by Sophie, Bella stuck a hard first time shot which beat the goalkeeper. Leicester 3-2 Roundhill.

Leicester saw out the final 8 minutes, much to the relief of their supporters. So, Leicester are in the Semi-Finals!

Sunday

The U14’s played in a friendly 3 way match versus Beeston Tier 2 team and a touring U15 Team from Prior Fields school.
The first match versus Beeston Leicester showed their ability to pass the ball well to make an effective attack resulting in the first goal being a real team effort. Olivia Glover was extremely effective in defence. Isabella Wilkinson and Elena Bensi did some good distribution from the midfield. Sophie Levy did some effective attacking runs resulting in a lovely second goal off a deflection from Elena. Tara was excellent as an attacking forward making some great runs and was unlucky to score. Evie made some fantastic saves.
The second match was against Prior Fields who had some string players. It was a very equal match. Megan and Tara were both unlucky not to score and had a few good chances. Again the girls played well and were unlucky to concede a goal in the second half.