And Liddy's off & running...

After a week of Ditz, time for a change of pace. Liddy is back playing soccer. She made the reserve team, not the premier side but that's pretty good given she played only 2 games last season & the 2nd one she broke her collar bone. She's hardly played at all in 18 months, her touch is always a tad peculiar at the start of a season & Liddy has never been valuable for her ball skills. lol.

So I got dragged over to the mainland Saturday night to watch her play at home. Watching Liddy play never involves just going to the game & dutifully sitting through 45 minutes of young women hiding peculiar figures under baggy uniforms chasing a ball round & round a bit of turf. Nope. There is the pre game discussion, the post game discussion & the tell me I'm wonderful again discussion. I'm exhausted & never set foot on the pitch!

Given I was the designated driver we spent an hour watching the game before while Liddy warmed up & got pep talked by the coach.

Now soccer is the sport of choice in our house. The only one who doesn't play is Dearest. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is an expert. Everyone knows the rules & something of strategy ~ even Ditz whose idea of playing soccer is to wander vaguely round the pitch watching the clouds overhead! So as Liddy walks out onto the pitch I take note because I'm supposed to be able to discuss her play intelligently afterwards. Ooooh! She was playing forward. Interesting. Last season they played her back & for preference she likes to run the right wing. I think, well she might get a tad cold if she's got to hang round too long for the ball to come forward & the field placement looks pretty peculiar to me but I grew up watching soccer & still tend to think in fairly traditional terms of forwards & backs & wingers. Given Liddy's touch is off I would not have been playing her as a striker where she is expected to sink the ball into the back of the opponent's net.

Five minutes later I'm totally confused. Strikers get to sit well forward waiting for the mid~field to send the ball down so they can have a strike on goal. So where was Liddy? Doing what her coach was screaming at her to do & running the right wing because the mid~field kept dropping out & her backs weren't covering her. (Liddy was ropable about this & I am going to hear about it all week!) Every time she ran past I screamed out, 'Personal cheer squad cheering here.' (eye roll emoticon inserted here) Now Liddy is a long distance runner & has always been able to run forever but constantly sprinting from one end of the pitch to the other was exhausting her. (The girl marking her was puffed after 15 minutes with 30 still to go!) No interchange any more so Liddy had to *suck it up*, as her captain told her. Oh, my!

Half time. Liddy hurtled towards the change rooms. There are a few anxious looks from those who know about her chronic fatigue but I figure her bag's there & what's in the bag? FOOD. Yep. Liddy comes back munching on a banana. Some food & a break & she is ready to go back on.

Meanwhile I am freezing despite all the clothing I am wearing. I swear, this year I am buying thermal underwear for these things! I hunker down for another 45 minutes of screaming my lungs out at the daughter I know perfectly well can't hear me & a game that has me mightily frustrated. The girls are bunching, running the ball through the centre instead of sending it wide & out of position. The coach seems to have managed to get something through. They look better than they did & come down the pitch hard & fast. I'm eye rolling. I know a lot of these girls from previous years, know their personalities, know their play & several of the mid are wannabe strikers & ball hogs. Nothing drives me crazier than selfish play because soccer is a team sport & passing is the best form of attack. Too often girls have been hanging onto the ball too long & having it stolen off them. The girl with the ball is one of them & as she can strike fair enough if she gets an opportunity. She has players moving in to shut her down & I'm not holding out much hope she'll actually pass but she recognizes her danger, sees Liddy calling at the far post & crosses the ball in. The ball drops at Liddy's feet. She turns & strikes. The goalie is off balance & the ball slams into the back of the net. Whew! Liddy's strikes have been off but as has happened so often in past seasons, if Liddy is on her game & able to score her team takes heart & uually scores again. Liddy rarely gets a 2nd bite at the apple. Being able to outrun most backs once she scores she usually gets double marked & last night was no exception. She had 2 girls sitting off her shoulders (hands pushing & grabbing & shirt holding too. Naughty, naughty.) The coach did the smart thing & pulled her off & the other striker got a ball in so they had a pretty little margin & were able to hold the other team to nothing.

At this point Dino, who has been working with Theo for some spare cash, rocks up to watch the end of the game. (not impressed but the men's games are a lot harder & faster & the mid would never dare turn themselves into backs!) I join him simply because I can't stand the supporters who have decided booing the ref is in order. I've never got that sort of stuff. It doesn't help the players & someone has to make the calls. All in all my Lid was a happy girl. She scored a sweet, sweet goal & both coaches were very happy with her play.

As for me, well we stopped at the shops on our way into town so Liddy could pick up my Chrissy present. Yes, ladies, Jonathan Creek has finally arrived!!! Liddy is planning a sweets bake & Jonathan day today. Big Grin. I think we've earnt it, don't you?