Another opportunity for these girls to show off the progress they have made. Today, they played on a full-size 7s pitch, the biggest pitch they've played on to date. What impressed most was the amount of space the girls were using; the game did not just happen up and down the middle. Also clear was the fact that the girls were looking out for each other. Firstly, to give each other space without crowding and, secondly, to look for a good pass. Sticks were mostly ready to block (Miss N still has to shout "Sticks down!" a few times, but we'll get there...) and, again, there was fearless tackling going on throughout. There was a lot of energy on the pitch and the girls covered a lot of ground. Chafyn Grove put on the pressure in attack, slipping a goal past our defence in the first half. But FSM's U8s don't give up easily. They returned the pressure and, early in the second half, a strong sideline pass from Alba found a few FSM sticks in front of the goal, with Darcey putting the final touch to our equaliser. More of the game was played in our attacking half , although CG had a few forays into our D; our defence is beginning to clear more powerfully. Both teams held firm at the back in the final quarter, leaving the score a well deserved 1 - 1 draw.

Girl of the game today: Alba, for some cracking runs up the wing, learning when to dribble and when to pass and generally being a nuisance to the opposition!