Thus does Chad Harbach’s 2011 book The Art of Fielding describe a truth about high-level sport: creativity can count for nothing if undone by losses of concentration. Rory McIlroy could sink a 60-foot putt up and over a ridge but he’ll be no better off if he shanks the next drive into the rough. Lewis Hamilton may be able to overtake through a gap that others don’t even see, but if his mind wanders on the next bend he’ll be embedded in the wall.
Teddington Athletic’s U15 Girls aren’t at that level of sporting endeavour, but they learnt the lesson anyway against an AFC Wimbledon team who have now scored 30+ goals in five straight victories.
And yet… this wasn’t like the five-goal defeat Teddington suffered at the same ground 364 days previously. If that abject 5-0 humiliation prompted some soul-searching, this 5-2 loss should provoke mixed feelings: sadness at the goals conceded, determination to eliminate those mistakes, and genuine pride at some of the football they played.
Teddington didn’t just shine in patches: on the balance of play, of chances created, they can feel somewhat irritated not to have won. While Wimbledon scored with their first five efforts on target, their goalkeeper made six saves in the first half alone.
None of which is to castigate Ruby Rudkin. The affable goalkeeper would freely admit she has lots to learn, having only converted to the position 18 months ago while some of her opposite numbers in this elite league have been in gloves since they were in nappies.
No, defending is a collective responsibility sometimes undermined by individual errors. Teddington discovered that slips will be ruthlessly punished by good teams, even if Wimbledon might have been delighted by how things panned out.
The same couldn't be said for the visitors. The coaches had warned that the leaders’ main goal threats came from corners and from not defending the centre of the goal 25 yards out. Teddington promptly conceded one of each within the first eight minutes.
The opener came within 30 seconds when a tackle was bottled in midfield and the opponent given time to pick out what was admittedly an excellent shot. The sickening second was turned in at the near post from an unchallenged flag kick. The coaches despaired.
What made it initially harder to swallow, if later easier to digest, was that the visitors could have been 2-1 up before going 2-0 down. If Wimbledon’s attack was troubling Teddington’s defence, the same applied at the other end.
In the fourth minute a ball dinked over the Dons defence caused confusion between the home goalkeeper and a centre-back desperate to shepherd it back. Bristling forward Ella Dodd didn't stand on ceremony, grabbing the ball and dragging it just wide of the left-hand post.
A minute later Doddsy was involved again, at the heart of an intricate move down the right. Increasingly keen to learn and diligent in training, Ella Bothamley approached this game against her former team full of determination and danger; here, driving directly at a back-pedalling left-back, she hit the by-line and pulled back for Doddsy, who laid off for Liz to fire just wide.
The concession of the second goal didn’t stop Teddington, and Boz in particular. By now confident she had the beating of the left-back, she branched out by driving inwards and wriggling away from a crowd of three opponents before hitting a shot toward the top corner which the goalkeeper was happy to push wide for a corner.
Still Teddington came. Even when Doddsy fluffed her flick-on, Boz collected the ball anyway and fed the centre-forward; she set up the onrushing Liz for a first-time shot which was again saved by the goalkeeper. Linking the attack together, Doddsy then laid off yet another Boz cross for Giulia Clini to shoot just wide from 15 yards.
But if Teddington were effervescent, Wimbledon were efficient, and in the 15th minute they scored their third goal with their third effort on target. Again, it was a move to make coaches tear their hair out: a simple diagonal through a missing midfield, two strikers played onside by a dozing defence and a goalkeeper stuck to her line meant the Dons striker had the freedom of the area to pick her spot and make it 3-0.
That somewhat deflated Teddington; in the next 10 minutes, the only visiting effort of note was a Liz effort from way downtown that got stuck in a tree.
And then it was four. Sent back from impressing up front to help her defence at corners, Doddsy won’t be proud of her attempted header; closing her eyes, she was beaten by a much smaller opponent whose back-header flew past the helpless Ruby. Four accurate attempts, four goals.
With Wimbledon scenting blood, Teddington might have crumbled, and it’s to their credit that they didn’t. Liz dispossessed a defender on the right and fed Doddsy for another accurate shot, requiring another save. Boz toasted the left-back again to win another corner, from which the visitors finally got some reward, just before the half-hour: Liz’s accurate cross tucked in on the volley by Emily Coulson for her fifth of the season.
Teddington rang the changes at the back. After impressing at centre-back last week, Amy Hallett had only been rotated out for the returning Millie Theobald because the timing of the kick-off had meant she’d been up since 5.30am to cram in her horse-riding; on she trotted for Millie.
Meanwhile, Anna Kauffmann was replaced at right-back by a slightly surprised Emily Bashford, previously only used in attacking positions – but her combination of pace and physical fearlessness helped quell Wimbledon’s left-sided threat for the rest of the half.
While the defence settled down, the attack continued to threaten, chiefly through the buzzing Boz. A minute after the goal, the winger toasted her left-back and pulled back for Doddsy to fire Teddington’s fifth shot on target – saved again. A minute before the break, Boz was once more the provider and the goalkeeper once more the denier as a teasing right-wing cross produced shots from Ale Fairn (on for Doddsy) and Carla Novakovic before the goalkeeper bravely smothered.
When the second half finally began – after a short pause while dedicated linesman Andy Kriebel shuffled back from the snack bar with his coffee and burger – Teddington had another new defender. With Boz rested to the bench and Bash pushed forward in her place, Millie MacEacharn added another string to her bow with a composed performance at right-back. It’s a position she had never previously played, even if she had previously covered for Saskia Brewster at left-back, but Macca never complains, always gives her best – and increasingly gives her coaches options in various positions.
Sadly, within two minutes she was watching the ball disappear into the Teddington net for a fifth and final time – albeit not through her own fault. Lackadaisical from their own goal-kick and slower than their hosts to react, Teddington virtually presented the forward with a free shot. Five accurate attempts, 5-1.
Quieter after the break, Teddington lacked a little thrust but not desire. Shoulder-to-shoulder with a physical right-back, Emily left her opponent in a heap on the left before Bash – never one to fear physicality – battled back to harass the defender in the other side. Captain Carla was everywhere, snapping away by the right-wing corner flag to set up Giulia for a volley well saved. And a minute after that, Ale battled in down the inside-left channel to force a seventh save from the Dons goalkeeper.
On the hour, Ale and Giulia were replaced by Doddsy and Boz, with Bash switching left and Em operating more centrally. Teddington’s front four now re-incorporated the three girls who came from the bench to score at Palace last week, but it was the fourth member of the attack who was causing the most problems.
It’s been noted before that Bash has the raw materials to make a brilliant striker: stunning pace, utter fearlessness, bags of stamina. Here she simply beavered her way toward goal, terrifying back-pedalling defenders; unlike with many pacy wingers, even if they can catch her they have a tough job to dispossess a determined character who has never feared physical confrontation.
What Bash lacks, by her own admission, is the expertise granted by experience – and here she finished her amazing goalward run by firing just over. But she’s getting better all the time, and she’s very willing to learn; in Friday’s shooting session for the attackers she was bagging with increasing regularity and confidence, and in the postmatch discussion she was quick to request more sessions. Those will help her get the muscle-memory to finish in a variety of ways, remembering Bob Paisley’s famous advice to strikers: "If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later."
Also learning a (relatively) new trade is Ruby. Many goalkeepers would have been disheartened by conceding five without having a decent chance to make a save, but not Rubes, who pulled off a stunning save with six minutes to go, denying the Dons striker with a superb reaction stop down to her left.
That would have made the scoreline a howlingly unfair 6-1, but a minute later it was 5-2 – better, if still somewhat unrepresentative. It came from the spot after Doddsy was upended in the area, Liz quickly putting her hand up to take the kick then hammering it past the goalkeeper. No chance of an eighth save from that howitzer.
Unlike last year at Wimbledon, the discussions after the whistle – 10 minutes with the girls, then an hour among the coaches – weren’t a post-match post-mortem. Teddington produced much to admire, with clever attacking team play and plenty of hard work. The areas to improve are equally obvious: not just in training (where they can expect to be working on corners, heading and shooting) but in their concentration and attitude.
Twice the visitors talked the talk at pitchside before ambling on and presenting their opponents with simple chances. It’s a shame for the girls when their creativity is rendered redundant by the sort of avoidable errors that top sports stars learn to avoid. With Maidenhead – fresh from putting six past Fleet to go second in the league – up next, hopefully it’s a lesson that will be learned quickly.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Hannah Hutchison, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Liz Kriebel (1p), Carla Novakovic, Ella Bothamley, Giulia Clini, Emily Coulson (1), Ella Dodd. Subs Ale Fairn, Emily Bashford, Millie MacEacharn, Amy Hallett.
