For the third successive season, Dave Waldron's Teddington Athletic girls' side started a season at the well-appointed Addlestone home of Abbey Rangers. But this time things would be different. After two usually successful years of nine-a-side, the girls – now U14s – were moving up to 11-a-side football.
Now they are at full-size sides, they may find themselves playing on full-size pitches with full-size goals: by the FA's official advice for their age group, "it is recommended that 7 [feet] x 21 goalposts are provided. However, it should be noted that 8 x 24 [ie full-size] would also be acceptable as not all sites will be able to provide specifically for this age group."
The summer brought one departure, one arrival and one return to the fold. After two years of energetic enthusiasm in midfield, Sophie Wallman has regretfully decided to drop one of her many athletic endeavours, and she leaves with mutual good wishes and happy memories. Drafted in from AFC Wimbledon, Ella Bothamley joins several of her schoolfriends and becomes the team's fourth Ella (as is traditional and essential, she'll need a nickname: in the absence of suitable alternatives, it may well be Boz). And after overcoming the worrying health concerns of last season, Anna Kauffmann has shown speed of limb and thought in an impressive pre-season.
With Anna's registration not yet complete, Boz suffering with a cold and Sadie Day away, Teddington's 16-girl squad was down to the starting 11 and two subs – but there's quality throughout the roster, as the lineup at Abbey showed. Ruby Rudkin has happily re-donned the gloves. After two years of rotating in a back two, Saskia Brewster, Millie Theobald and Ella Parkinson-Mearns can start to prosper as a back three.
Patrolling in front of them, Ella Waldron adds security in defence and driving astuteness on the ball. There are myriad midfield options; in the starting line-up at Abbey, it was Ella Dodd and Amy Hallett – physically very different but each intelligent enough to have represented her team with honour in three different positions – behind the roving Emily Coulson.
Em has a footballing brain and the ability to destroy any opponent, but this season she'll have to combine that with the diligence to drop back and defend when the team don't have the ball. It's something she's done many times before and would do again at Abbey, like the two wide players, the ever-dangerous Sinead Morris and Phoebe Head. Up front, Ale Fairn will look to bring her footballing intelligence to bear – and hope to avoid the injury problems that have blighted the last 18 months. On the bench on this occasion, Carla Novakovic and Millie MacEacharn offer excellent options in a variety of positions.
As might be expected, the first five minutes consisted of the two teams feeling their way into the 11-a-side format – but Teddington threatened first, and typically it came down the flanks. Sinead Morris had started to look lively down the left but the first chance came from Phoebe Head bursting down the right; her cross bypassed Ale Fairn but Amy Hallett’s shot was well fielded at the far post.
Phoebe was soon involved again, when a weakish goal-kick was chased down the corner flag; this time Amy didn’t quite control the shot but Sinead did, connecting well with the falling ball but again finding the goalkeeper impassable.
When Abbey did push forward, the new defensive unit seemed to be working well. As Ella Parkinson-Mearns reacted early to developments on the halfway line, Ella Waldron dropped in behind her to cover; having forced the shot from 25 yards, Teddington’s defence were soon applauding Ruby Rudkin for getting across to save it.
A minute later, Teddington were behind. Breaking down the right, Abbey got in behind Sas to shoot; Ruby blocked it but the striker reacted before the defenders.
Within two minutes the damage was doubled, Abbey again cutting in from the right wing and the shot creeping in at the near post. Also creeping in were mistakes: the second strike was partly caused by a collective lack of determination to head the ball clear in the build-up to the goal.
Despite conceding twice in three minutes, Teddington didn’t collapse and could have hit back almost immediately. A good intelligent spread from Jelly to Phoebe forced a corner, from which Doddsy’s carefully placed shot toward the far corner bobbled frustratingly wide.
But the visitors were showing their inexperience on the big pitch. The passing was too timid, two-touch tapping triangles in midfield which didn’t hurt Abbey rather than seeking to make the field as big as possible to stretch the opposition. Shots, when they came, were also too meek, instead of seeking to exploit the full-sized goal.
Teddington might have made it to half-time, reorganised and kicked on, but instead they conceded twice, infuriatingly, in the last five minutes. First a weak effort trickled into the far corner, then in the last 30 seconds a corner from Abbey’s left was allowed across the six-yard box and bundled in at the far post.
Statistically, it was the worst half-time scoreline since a callow young third-tier Teddington side went in 6-1 down against league leaders AFC Wimbledon in a cup tie. But this side should have known better. They came in a half-time bemused and bedraggled, with Sas in tears from a kick to the kidneys.
The inquest was simple rather than savage. Teddington simply needed to grow up, wake up, cut out the individual mistakes, communicate more efficiently, and start making the pitch bigger. There were also two substitutions: Parky and Ale having sustained knocks, Carla Novakovic came on at right-back and Millie MacEacharn in midfield, with Doddsy moving up top.
Goal number five arrived because Abbey again wanted the ball more than Teddington, the hosts pouncing from a left-wing corner that could have been cleared. Goal number six followed soon after, when the counter-attacking home side were allowed to advance untrammelled to the edge of the area and shoot unchallenged into the capacious net.
But goal number six came on the counter-attack because Teddington had started to rediscover their mojo. Millie T dispossessed the striker and fed Saskia, who slid a smart ball up the left for Doddsy. Collecting the ball on the half-way line, the new centre-forward simply powered toward goal, leaving two or three defenders floundering in her wake before being stopped by a hasty clearance from the emerging goalkeeper, with Sinead's follow-up shot blocked and cleared.
That clearance led to the sixth goal, but Doddsy was giving Abbey concern – and Teddington hope. Within a minute of the sixth goal, she again powered forward, now flanked by Sinead and Phoebe, exploring the gaps created as defenders were drawn to Doddsy. And when the ball popped out right to Phoebe, the recipient cut cleverly inside and from the corner of the box curled it left-footed into the far bottom corner of the net with the kind of exquisite accuracy this goalkeeper necessitated.
Not that Doddsy is all about brute strength – indeed, she's all too often been curiously reticent to use her physique. She's also an intelligent footballer who has willingly played in defence, midfield and attack for the team. And when Sinead ran past her down the left wing, Doddsy has the chops to play her in on goal with a delightful dinked ball. From the resultant throw, the ball was worked to Jelly, in space on the edge of the area, with the time and technique to blast a shot towards the top corner… which the goalkeeper again flew across to block – the finest stop from a morning’s portfolio of half-a-dozen excellent saves.
At the other end, Ruby was also starting to find her feet – and although she stayed frozen on her line when a ball fizzed over the top of Millie T, she sprung across her goal-line to save a fierce shot.
But Teddington were the likelier next scorers. Phoebe outmuscled the left-back and fired just across the face of goal; then Doddsy yet again rolled her defender, finding Emily – who was quickly closed down but smartly sidestepped and fed Phoebe, whose shot high toward the near top corner was saved once more.
Even the excellent home goalkeeper couldn't keep the visitors out forever, and with four minutes to go Teddington's front three combined to close the scoring. Sinead's throw set Doddsy rumbling across the edge of the area, and although she might have shot, she played a subtle little diagonal behind the full-back for Phoebe to place beautifully into that same far corner.
That's Phoebe's 41st goal for the club, drawing her level in the all-time list with Emily, Sinead sitting just two behind. Despite playing much of it in midfield and defence, Doddsy got 14 in her debut season; more will surely follow if she always plays with this sort of fearless determination. Maybe it's the eye-shadow she seems to have discovered over summer: Sinead's also partial to it, and she's hard as nails too...
Playing like they did in the second half, this Teddington side will continue to score goals – it's rarely been a problem. What was perhaps more worrying was the lack of determination and communication in the defence. It's not a matter of numbers: as manager Dave noted after the game, Teddington could choose four, five or eight defenders, but it wouldn't make a difference if they didn't want to stop the opposition. None of the back three are naturally the most voluble of characters – although it’s notable that in the amicable post-match discussion, Sas and Millie T were the only two players to ask thoughtful questions of the management – but the defence will have to get used to better communication as a unit if it is to avoid further disappointment and embarrassment.
In attack, Teddington usually play as a cohesive unit, communicating and understanding each other's games. That needs to continue throughout the team. It's a big pitch, but it's the same for both sides, and Teddington have always played an expansive attacking game: they need to exploit those spaces together with the ball, and close them down together without it. Instead of being such polite and well-mannered Teddingtonian girls, they'll have to start making their way in the big bad world. They certainly have the talent, if they can lose the timidity.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Ella Waldron, Amy Hallett, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson, Phoebe Head (2), Ale Fairn, Sinead Morris. Subs: Carla Novakovic, Millie MacEacharn.
