The start of the season wasn't without a hiccup as the keeper didn't get the start time memo which resulted in Surbiton going 1-0 up after two minutes.
However the game then improved and we were able to exert increasing dominance as the it progressed.
Team: Edith, Emily, Skye, Charlotte, Olivia in defence. Ava, Megan, Emma, Ruth and Carmen in midfield. Amelie and Scarlett up front.
What was most pleasing is the way that the girls gelled and worked together in their first league game.
Charlotte was skipper and led with enthusiasm (once even too much enthusiasm!) and proceeded to frustrate Surbiton with her elimination skills. Olivia joined her in their sweeper roles with huge aplomb and they proved a dominant workforce in defence.
Behind them Skye was reliably solid as ever in her marking and tackles and Emily seemed to make her stick bigger than everyone else's as nothing appeared to get past her all game. Edith also made her presence known with some fine saves from open play.
Carmen made her U16 debut in style with some excellent skills and solid tackling. Megan demonstrated her usual panache in midfield whilst Emma was robust both defensively and going forward. Both Ava and Ruth were similarly determined and each contributed to the team's midfield dominance in the game.
In attack both Amelie and Scarlett managed to get in some great positions, eliminating swathes of defenders in the process.
But it was from a short corner after 30 minutes that we scored our first goal with Megs injecting to Olivia who showed off her powerful new sweep/flick that went straight into the goal as it proved too tricky a height for the keeper to get anything on.
Our second came in the second half from some precision passing as Megs passed up the middle straight to Liv who turned and found Scals on the edge of the D who eliminated her defender and calmly posted the ball past the keeper for the winner.
All in all a successful first game of the season.
Surbiton voted Edith PotM.
My vote goes to Carmen for her excellent introduction to U16g.
Honourable mentions also to Olivia for her awesome display in defensive midfield and an incredible power-flick that she has developed since I last saw her play (including the goal) and Emily who wasn't letting so much as a pass get by today.
Many thanks to Chris Butler and George Jackson for umpiring what was an occasionally testing game (I counted three cards..) with their usual expertise.
And thanks to the vocal support in what was an exciting game to watch.