In
the dressing room during half-time, Natsume starts to feel faint, as
the effects of her collision start to sink in. I duly made the
decision to substitute her off and put Hinata on instead, and
although I half-expect her to object, she actually agrees. "I
can't play like this," she had said. "It's for the best."
I'm glad she sees sense. I'm sure Hinata won't let us down.
46
MINUTES
We
kick off for the second half. Sanae passes the ball back to Fiona,
who plays it out wide to Tomoko on the right wing. Tomoko gets
halfway into the Leonessa half before being brought down, and already
we have a free kick. Tomoko picks herself up, brushes herself down
and steps up to take the free kick, but nothing comes of it.
51
MINUTES
The
second half seems to have a slower tempo than the first, and luckily
for us, it also seems rather more even. The first real chance of the
half, however, goes to Leonessa as one of their midfielders breaks
through and dashes towards the penalty area. Choi and Yuuko are in
close attention, and the midfielder's wild 20-yard strike flies right
over the crossbar for a goal kick.
54
MINUTES
That
one half-chance reinvigorates Leonessa and they start to push
forwards once again. This time they break down the left-hand side,
with Tomoko in hot pursuit. Ritsu also closes them down, but they
somehow manage to force a throw-in. From that throw-in, they're then
able to work a cross into the penalty area. It's not a great one,
though, and while a Leonessa striker does get her head to it, she can
only direct it straight at Aliona, who clutches it gratefully and
boots it upfield towards Hinata.
58
MINUTES
As
Leonessa start to build up another attack, Konoko moves in to close
the ball down. She makes a mess of the challenge, however, and the
opposing midfielder ends up sprawled on the floor. The referee blows
for a free kick, but thankfully Konoko escapes a yellow card,
presumably because there was no ill intent.
Leonessa
take the kick quickly, hoping to catch us on the break. Soon the ball
finds its way to one of their forwards, who dances past Choi and into
the penalty area. Aliona is just able to palm the shot away, but the
ball goes out for a corner.
59
MINUTES
Leonessa
send the corner in, and although I can't make out who gets their head
to it first, it appears to be one of our players, for the ball is
headed away towards the far touchline for a throw-in. Sure enough,
it's Leonessa's throw-in, and thankfully we're able to close them
down well enough to prevent another chance from brewing. Before long
Shinobu is able to steal the ball and send it upfield towards Fiona.
63
MINUTES
The
pressure from Leonessa has started to lessen, and we're finally able
to create our own chance as Konoko breaks free of her midfield marker
and dashes upfield. She has Fiona and Tomoko either side of her for
support, and Sanae and Yui up ahead ready to receive the ball. As
another midfielder closes her down, she offloads the ball to Fiona,
who continues the run. She too is closed down, and passes it out wide
to Hinata on the left.
Hinata
makes her way down the touchline and then whips in an accurate cross.
Yui rises to meet it, but the Leonessa goalkeeper is able to palm her
header away and a defender quickly rushes in to scramble away the
loose ball.
68
MINUTES
Leonessa's
right-winger goes on a run down the touchline before crossing the
ball infield to one of her team-mates. Fiona closes her down expertly
and manages to steal the ball from her, before heading off on a run
of her own. Seeing Tomoko in space on the right wing, she crosses it
over to her and Tomoko outpaces her marker on a run down to the
byline. She sends in a decent cross, but a defender out-jumps Yui and
heads it away.
It's
Konoko who gets to the rebound first, though, taking it down expertly
before playing it back into the danger zone for Sanae. Sanae doesn't
have much room to manoeuvre but tries the shot anyway - the Leonessa
goalkeeper dives to her right and makes a comfortable save.
72
MINUTES
Leonessa
have made their second substitution, replacing one of their strikers.
They're continuing to push for a goal, and although I have to admire
their tenacity, I'm now determined for us to hang on for at least one
point. We've made it this far, and in my opinion, we deserve
something out of this game.
Leonessa's
latest attack is through the center, with Fiona and Konoko chasing
all the way. Seeing that their other central midfielder is in acres
of space, I call out to Konoko to mark her instead. She gets the
message just in time and is able to intercept the pass as it's made,
but without any options close by, she's forced to keep the ball.
Eventually
Leonessa wrestle it off of her and their attack resumes in earnest,
though the build-up is slow as we remain in close attention. Finally,
one of their strikers manages to work some space on the edge of the
box and lets one go, but it flies just wide of the right-hand post.
My opposite number doesn't look happy; I'm guessing she'd been hoping
her side would be ahead by this point. Sorry to disappoint her.
75
MINUTES
Fiona
signals to the bench that she's tiring. This presents a problem, as
we've already sent on our substitute midfielder. "What do you
think we should do?" I ask my assistant.
"We
can't leave her on the field," she says, shaking her head. "I
think we should bring on Suzume, and revert to a defensive 5-3-2."
"That
should work," I say. There's only fifteen minutes left and both
sides are tiring, so it makes sense to cut our losses and just play
out the 0-0 draw. "Suzume, start getting warmed up. We're gonna
put you on in place of Fiona."
Suzume
silently gets up and starts warming up in her tracksuit without
really acknowledging that I had said anything. A minute or two later,
we make the substitution, and Suzume slots in between Shinobu and
Choi on the left-hand side of the defence.
79
MINUTES
The
unfortunate side-effect of our new formation is that our midfield is
now weakened, especially with Natsume off injured. Leonessa start to
dominate the midfield possession, and soon they're on the attack
again. Fortunately our now five-strong defence is more than enough to
halt them in their tracks, Choi and Yuuko combining to win the ball
back and play it out of danger.
82
MINUTES
Konoko
seems to be struggling to cope and, as another Leonessa midfielder
races past her, she desperately clings to the girl's shitty and ends
up dragging them both to the floor. I shake my head as the referee
blows her whistle, and this time Konoko doesn't get off so easily;
her name goes in the book.
Leonessa
quickly build up an attack from the free kick, and soon one of their
strikers is bearing down on the penalty area. She dances round Choi,
she dances round Yuuko, she shoots... and hits the side netting. A
tranche of home fans cheer momentarily, thinking the ball had gone
in, but their cheers swiftly peter out. With all the chances Leonessa
have had, I have to admit I'm thoroughly relieved that we're not
behind yet. We're still not in the clear, though.
87
MINUTES
It's
our turn to get a free kick, as Tomoko is brought down just past the
halfway line. The midfielder responsible also joins Tomoko in the
referee's book, rolling her eyes as the yellow card comes out. Again,
Tomoko takes the free kick, and this time it manages to find Yui. She
dribbles past a defender and passes it to Sanae, who dribbles past
another and lets fly from the edge of the penalty area. She hits it
straight at the goalkeeper, though, she palms it away and then
pounces on the rebound.
90+1
MINUTES
Leonessa
are building up yet another assault on our defence, but there just
isn't enough time and the final whistle blows. The final score is
0-0. We've managed to make it through this home tie unscathed and
come out with a point, which is a pretty respectable result. Overall,
it's a very good start to the season, and a good omen for the future.
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