Well done, girls!  Our first match of the season, and what a way to start it off!  It wasn’t an easy match but we fought hard and won.  As we continue to train and play together, team dynamics will only get stronger and we’ll continue to see stronger performance in the matches to come.

The pre-game ceremony: Goodbellas debut!

Our second match of the season was well fought!  We led the game in scoring with a great early goal from striker, Justine – a nice shot from the left wing that found its way into the far right of the net.  Our opponents must have realized their mistake by giving our players space and from there on, played really tight.  Yin Tsing brought their counter-attack quite quickly and had the game tied.  They pulled a few fast and surprising goals in the first half.  GoodBellas were the much stronger team in the second half after half-time talk of new defensive tactics.  Everyone played amazingly well although we ended with a loss, our heads were high for the strong fight in the second half leaving the opponents scoreless.

First league game of 2012!

Hello Ladies!  Shannon, here, to give a brief match report.  Firstly I’d like to say that despite the loss, I was very pleased by everyone’s playing.  I honestly couldn’t have asked for much more; you all pushed very hard and for the first time ever, I am going to say we were “unlucky” when Tai Po scored on us in the second half.  It was a bit of a ping pong scramble ball infront of the net and the ball just managed to find its way past the goal line.  I’m not sure that there was anything we could have done differently to avoid that one.  Again, a big thumbs up to our keeper in training, Carmen, who is doing a great job!  This was her first league match playing in net – well done!  We’ve only played three games this season but I’m very impressed with the defending line who have been communicating and working together stronger in each game.  Suz, Emily and Arielle – fantastic job holding the back.  And many many thanks for  the midfielders who huffed and puffed their way back to help out the defense – you know who you are 😉

Between the midfielders and strikers, you all did a great job keeping the ball a good portion of the time in their end. Mayumi and Loretta are two players to mention for their speed and getting infront of the ball to keep it in their half!  Good movement of the ball and shout outs to Kim, Katie, Juice, Mai and Nicole for getting some shots in.  Lita Lau for helping to control the midfield and a big welcome to Sarah for her debut with the Bellas and thumbs up for good positioning on the wings and setting up some plays.

It was such a pleasure to see you all play tonight and I commend you all for your efforts!  It was a tight match and we put up a good fight.  In my opinion, the game result is more like a draw – although technically it’s a win for them, I can’t say that they earned or deserve a win anymore than we do!

Thanks to all of our supporters as well!

Alright, girls – that’s all for now.  I will most likely not be seeing you again until April when I return from my maternity leave.  If some of you keep badgering me by email during post-partum recovery to get seriously back in shape, there’s a good chance I will be joining you on the pitch in April.  I’ll miss you guys – keep training and working hard and I look forward to seeing the progress once I return! Signing off now….