FC Irlande Auderghem Ladies C

Ladies in green showed up at the Guy Thys stadium being aware of the level of their opponents. Etterbeck is a strong, young team that last year won the P3 championship, and that got reinforced with some new strong players for the season 2020-2021.

The Ladies in green suffered the first half , where our positioning on the pitch was good but we struggled to get first on the ball. First half ended 2-0.

In the locker room, the motivation from coaches was again key to instill more confidence on players and adapt our squad to the game of the opponents. Angela (in defense) went out for Beatrice, who, with her angelic face but strong shot, came in to give support to Fran in attack. We tried also to increase the pressure on Etterbeck’s middle field, where #44 confirmed to be one of the worse nightmare for ladies in green. Her incredible precise passes, change of side and shots made very difficult for our team to block their game, despite a great sacrifice from our defense who once again fought hard to defend the goal. Our attack had few opportunities upfront, thanks to some good shots from Marine, the biting pressure of Carmen and Eliana, and sprints of Francesca. The match ended 4-0, for the surprise of Etterbeek who knew and still know the potential of our team. Which will definitely give a harder battle on the return match.

Ladies III played their second game of the season under perfect football conditions on Saturday 19th September. The temperature had already dropped somewhat from the day and the sun was still up (not every day that happens to our heros in green!), the pitch was perfection (grass, green,  perfectly cut and BIG).

Despite the conditions, the game started badly with two early injuries quickly following one after the other, as both Flavia and Teresa had to step out being replaced by Niambh and Beatrice. Later on in the game, Eliana also had to step out after twisting her ankle.

The ladies put good pressure with Sarah, Gab and Eliana controlling the midfield, constantly putting through balls to Fra and Marine that kept outrunning the White Star defense. Despite the dominance, the score in half time was still 0-0.

In second half, Sandra came on for Beatrice, replacing Adeline in central defense, who moved to the wing back position. The ladies in green kept creating occasions but White Star’s fast attackers also kept defense busy. The Irish defense was led expertly by Niambh, with Adeline and Audrey blocking anyone trying to get through on the wings and with Claire as number six not letting any balls bounce the  ladies were still in control and kept putting the red players offside. Mariana still had to make some crucial saves but did so gracefully, including one occasion where she had to come out of the box.

In the 65th minute the hard work of the Irish ladies finally paid off. Gab headed a ball coming from a defensive free kick to Francesca who put it in the goal.

After the goal White Star pushed more and more but the ladies in green held back and avoided danger. As the opponents put more pressure offensively, the Irish midfield took advantage of the space on the BIG pitch moving the ball around, switching sides. Final score 0-1.

The team left the pitch with the first three points of the season, hoping for a quick recovery for the injured ladies!!

After different months of waiting, the Ladies in green could finally come back to their natural habitat on the synthetic field of Auderghem.

Our new team was ready for the remarkable challenge of British United, an experienced team of expats which already made us run a lot last year.

The Ladies in green started well with good positioning and great passes between each other that allowed them to reach more than once the defensive area of the British United. However, a great actions of the opponent made them score a heavy goal during the first half.

In the second time, the Ladies in green showed impressive actions. A couple of time, the ball hit the post of the British United, but unfortunately it did never enter in the opponents net till the end.

A good match for our team that resulted in a defeat, but it really showed that we will be able to a great season with lots of exiting moments!

Special mentions: that was the first official match with the green uniform for Beatrice, Eliana, Marine and Teresa.