Sporting Du Pays De Charleroi B

Unfortunate game for our Ladies 1.

It was a sunny but very cold day at the the beautiful city of Charleroi. After last weekend (well deserved) break, Ladies 1 were ready to play against Sporting du pays de Charleroi. The stadium was packed with (4) enthusiastic fans cheering for their local team.

The game started off on a good note with our girls displaying some great combinations and getting closer to the goal. But no luck in their shoots.

Luck was definitely not on FCI side for the day, with the injury of Noemi in the 35th minute. She tore the cruciate ligament in her knee and had to be carried off the field.

The ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital which caused a 25-minute break. The referee, somehow, declared this break to be the halftime.

When the game resumed in the 41st minute, Charleroi scored their first goal. The girls in green tried hard to equalize, but a short 1 minute break came at the 45th minute, during which both teams only had time to switch sides.

As the second half began (or third half ?), Charleroi scored again in the 50th minute, making it 2-0. The girls in green didn’t lose hope and kept up their good football, creating some goal opportunities and enjoying long ball possessions.

In the 70th minute, Charleroi scored their third goal, making it 3-0. It seemed like the game was over, but our ladies didn’t give up. They continued to play with determination and in the last minute of the game, Mel scored a fantastic goal after receiving Magda’s precise pass.

Overall, it was a good game with some beautiful actions where they deserved more, but this time luck wasn’t on their side. See you all next Saturday at Auderghem to support and cheer for Ladies 1 against Molenbeek !

Ladies I had high hopes to secure a win against Charleroi, particularly since they wanted to bring home a W for Sophia’s birthday. However, that is not what happened. This is their story:

The ladies had a promising lineup although they were still missing a couple players. As such, their beloved captain Sophia, resident birthday girl, played CB for the majority of the game. The coaches devised a strategy to contain number 15, the league leader in goals. But the tireless woman did not want to be contained and had the defense chasing her all over the pitch. However, Cintia, our trusted defensive back, took on the containment mission as if her life depended on it. As a result, number 15 was frustrated for the first 60 minutes of the match as evidenced by the number of putains she yelled. Cintia won player of the match for her heroic efforts. During this time, Sophia, our leading yellow card champ, embraced her temp role as CB and executed her infamous move to stop a breakaway at any cost, pulling down one of their speedy wingers, and disrupting a very dangerous play at the 35th minute mark, earning her a yellow card. While the defense—Isa, Sarah C., Cintia, and Sophia tried their hardest to keep the opposing team from taking shots, they still managed to take a few shots on goal. Olatz, our fearless goalie, pulled some daring saves to keep it 0-0 going into halftime by stopping some hard shots on goal and also by running out to beat an opposing player to a loose ball.

The first goal came at nearly the 60th minute from the league leader, dreaded number 15. The ladies knew they needed to stay mentally focused and not let this goal deter their efforts. At either 0-1, or 0-2, our new winger, and O’Reilly’s very own, Sydney, made a beautiful cross (she is known for them). Magda was there and ready to knock it in, right in front of the goal, but it went high. Let’s just say Magda was bummed by this. Then number 15 struck again. And now it was 0-2.

Somewhere around this time, our other speedy winger Mel succumbed to leg cramps and was writhing in pain on the field for a couple minutes. Like the warrior she is, she continued to play. Midfield and Magda, Mel, Sydney, Louise, Sarah H., Pri, Virg, and Parker worked hard to recover balls and work up offensive plays to strike on goal, but the ball did not meet the back of the net this time.

The opponents managed to score one more goal before the match ended and the game finished with the score of 0-3.

Ladies I was disappointed by the loss, but they remain hungry and eager to improve. The women are heading back to the drawing board at practice on Monday and are determined to get more points.

Special shout out to Pri from ladies II for coming to help in the midfield!