Tampa Day 9: Close but no Cuban cigar

After a baking-hot April Fool’s Day morning around the pool, the third of Teddington’s four games was played on a gorgeous Floridian evening. The opponents this time were Tampa Bay United’s U14 Premier team, the ‘second string’ to the nationally top-rated Elite squad but a state-division top-flight side in their own right, and maintaining the pass-and-move ethos stamped throughout the Tampa club. How much would the visitors have learned from previous encounters?

Liz Kriebel returned to the squad after illness, but with another game in the morning, Ale Fairn wasn’t asked to risk aggravating her troublesome back/shoulder problem. Continuing in the recent 4-1-4-1 formation, Teddington included a couple of new starters who had earned their places with strong substitute appearances: Emily Bashford up front and Millie MacEacharn wide left. Phoebe Head switched to her favoured wide-right slot, with Ella Dodd and Emily Coulson in front of Amy Hallett in midfield and the usual back four of Saskia Brewster, Millie Theobald, Ella Waldron and the increasingly impressive Anna Kauffmann protecting goalkeeper Ruby Rudkin. Liz, Carla Novakovic, Sadie Day and Ella Bothamley made up a strong subs’ bench – and each would be involved.

Teddington started the match as they would go on: impressively. Patiently passing and probing for weaknesses, they had the majority of possession and almost broke through when Phoebe’s cross was inches away from a flying Bash, who is diligently learning the centre-forward ropes and already showing she’s very capable of playing that role. Tampa’s only early chance was ruled out for offside, but Ruby also started as she meant to go on, coming off her line much more quickly to extinguish the threat anyway.  

Before the quarter-hour the visitors started to rotate their squad, with Doddsy and Phoebe given a breather while Liz and Sadie added Teddington’s own American (and half-American) midfield flavo(u)r. At the mid-half water-break, Carla came on for Emily C and Boz for Macca, with Sadie switching to left midfield, which placed her nearer her watching family – although her twin brother got a bit too close for Sadie’s liking in the second half, coming over to annoy the subs’ bench before being shooed away.

Sadie played a full part in a continuing impressive Teddington performance. With the ever-improving Anna stepping out of defence to add overloads, the visitors were starting to play some nice triangles without quite penetrating the defence or troubling the goalkeeper – so on the half-hour, they expedited a pre-planned switch to a back three, with Jelly pushing on into midfield.

Reaching half-time satisfied but not satiated, Teddington continued with the back three but rang the changes, pushing Doddsy up top with Em just behind her, Phoebe on the right and Carla on the left. Jelly and Liz held the midfield, with Amy the insurance in front of the back three. And for the next quarter of the game, Teddington were dominant.

Within a minute, they’d had their first shot on target, Liz following up at the edge of the area with a solid effort. Then Doddsy, having been beaten to a through-ball by a centre-back who’d nipped in front of her, executed instant revenge by doing the same back, expertly laying off for Phoebe to tear down the line and cross to Em, whose shot was pushed onto the bar. A minute later, Em was in the right place again but her shot was deflected to Carla, who shot wide.

It wasn’t just that Teddington were now creating genuine chances; they were genuinely creative. Carla – playing in her sixth different position of the tour, having already done well in central midfield, defensive midfield, left midfield, left-back and (almost unbelievably, considering she’s three foot nowt) centre-back – combined well on the left wing with Doddsy and Em, playing those Tampa-like triangles, then recycling through the anchoring Amy to Jelly to Phoebe to find Doddsy on the edge for a shot desperately deflected.

So it was no surprise when Teddington took the lead 10 minutes into the second half, and again it was delightful football. Having been pinned back down their right side by Carla, Doddsy and Em, Tampa were happy to clear it 30 yards out – but there was Amy again, tidying up with a five-yard diagonal ball to Jelly, who did the same to find Phoebe. A one-two with her friend and skipper sent Pheebs through on goal, where she instantly hammered into the bottom corner.

Tampa might have equalised within a minute when the otherwise superb Millie T fell over in possession, John Stones-style, but Ruby roared off her line and panicked the striker into shooting over. A minute before the water break, Liz suffered a nosebleed so Carla tucked inside and Bash re-emerged on the left, immediately linking up well with Doddsy and feeding Jelly, who took her time and went for the top corner but saw her shot well saved by the goalkeeper. Once again Jelly had done almost everything right and been unlucky to be denied, as she had been by the woodwork in the second game shortly before the decisive third goal.

So it was, to quote baseball legend Yogi Berra, “deja vu all over again” when Tampa went up the other end and scored. With the last attack of the third quarter, the home side worked their way along Teddington’s back three probing for an opening – and with the visitors’ midfield not sufficiently helping out, they found one, breaking through the inside-left channel to fire high past Ruby.

Shuffling their players but maintaining the 3-4-3, Teddington rested Amy and brought on Boz (alternating with Bash on the left and up top, with Doddsy in a midfield anchored by Carla). And to give them their due, Tampa had the better of the final quarter, pushing up their wide players to get around the defence: twice Ruby had to be very alert to dash out of her six-yard box and block-tackle a striker. Giving it the death-or-glory, Teddington stuck to their attacking guns and could have won it with four minute remaining but Jelly, fed by Phoebe and Doddsy, despaired to see another good shot well saved by the goalkeeper.

So it was honours even, and perhaps it’s revealing that Teddington felt a tinge of disappointment as they shared empanadas (reflecting the Tampa area’s strong Cuban heritage) with their affable opponents and their welcoming parents. It says that the fast-learning visitors are earning the right to live with their vaunted hosts by applying their new knowledge, but must remember to keep doing all those simple things which any team must commit to muscle memory – digging back, covering for each other, working hard.

If they can do that – and find a way to balance the defensive diligence which has seen them concede just 15 goals in the last 14 league games with the attacking élan they displayed for much of this game – then they will have a good chance, not just in tomorrow’s tour closer, but in the two remaining league games against top-four rivals AFC Wimbledon.  

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Ella Waldron, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Phoebe Head (1), Emily Coulson, Ella Dodd, Millie MacEacharn, Emily Bashford. Subs: Carla Novakovic, Liz Kriebel, Sadie Day, Ella Bothamley.