I was genuinely worried going into this game. No subs, a wet and heavy pitch, and at least one not feeling very well (and I don’t mean me).

I’m not convinced things could have started much worse either! The girls fell asleep in defence, and within the first 3 minutes, Burghfield were one up! This could have been an excuse for the girls to feel sorry for themselves - to take it easy, avoid getting too tired… But they did not do that. We must have spent about 90% of the first half camped in the Burghfield half. On the right, Holly was consistently getting behind the defence - and across the field, Meher and Ayla were driving into the box to try to get on the end of crosses. Our equaliser, however, did not come from one of those driving runs, and instead came from a couple of neat passes - Holly into Sofia (looking for a one-two), then Sofia into Ayla who finished neatly. The rest of the first half followed the same pattern - with Shinfield playing high up the pitch, but still needing to react to the counter-attack. Unbelievably, after such a dominant performance, we went in at half time 2-1 down. Much like the first Burghfield goal, a mix-up in defence allowed them to slot wide of Poppy and go to half time ahead.

Half time team talk was pretty easy to be honest - do the same things, but commit to the high balls, and release the ball a little quicker. It only took five minutes for us to equalise - and they came thick and fast after that. Sophie connected with Holly on the right of the box, and Holly hammered home high at the near post. The next goal came another five minutes later - a ball into Holly’s feet from Isla let her turn the ball around the corner first time for Ayla to run on to at high speed, and netted a clean finish. Barely another 10 minutes had passed when roles were reversed - Holly running onto a through ball from Ayla, and finishing neatly in the corner. The score was 5-2 less than five minutes later, when Holly played Meher in for her to also get on the scoresheet. Shortly after, Shinfield scored again - this one perhaps my favourite of the lot. We were having success with corners all through the match - but not getting the luck. A corner from the right hand side found Sofia unmarked at the front post - and after a couple of volley attempts earlier in the game, this time she made no mistake and finished first time past the Burghfield defence. Our final goal came with just a few minutes of the game remaining, Meher playing Holly in on goal, and Holly forgetting about finesse finishing… Instead she hit the ball so hard at the goalkeeper that it went straight through her - and we finished the game with a 7-2 win.

In attack, the girls were incredible today. A little out of sorts in the first half, but six goals in the second just shows what we can bring to the pitch when we play. All three of the forwards - Ayla, Meher and Holly - turned it on today. All of them on the scoresheet, and all of them causing trouble for the Burghfield defence.

But to dwell only on the attack would be missing more than half the game. Yes, we played most of the game in the Burghfield half - but that was because of the incredible work put in by the defence and midfield. Poppy didn’t have to do too much - but she did put in a great save in the first half, diving to her right. Elise was clearly unwell today, but put in blocks and interceptions when we needed it - and we are super-grateful that she even made it out of bed today to play. Karlina was tireless - I can’t even keep up with how many covering tackles she made to break up attacks. I am really enjoying watching this format of football, as it starts to unleash the potential of players in the left and right-back positions - and that’s absolutely the case for Lyla and Luisa. Both consistently covered their winger, using pace and great positioning to stop their opponent bringing the ball inside. Sometimes, defending isn’t about making a tackle - it’s about delaying and pushing them away from goal - and the number of times these two forced mistakes and won throw-ins was incredible. The midfield three - Isla, Sofia and Sophie - were the ones that created the chances. Their transition, from defence into attack, was what gave our front three the chance to test the defence. On the right, Sophie was confident on the ball, with great turns and pacey runs - and worked exceptionally well with Holly. Isla played more of a break up game - receiving loose balls, making blocks and tackles, and moving the ball into her team mates to exploit the space. Sofia was always there for a pass out of defence, or popped back by the attack, showing composure on the ball, and connecting defence and attack consistently - not to mention a sweet volley goal to open her account for Shinfield.

While all the girls were excellent today, it was Sophie that won the girl of the game. I think this was her best performance for the Royals - she wrapped up the right hand side of midfield beautifully. She tracked back to assist the defence and she was open for passes across the field. Her distribution was excellent, and was probably a little unlucky not to get a goal in the first half when she followed up on a loose cross.