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LADIES BACK TO WINNING WAYS

13 / 06 / 2016

Riga United Ladies
4 : 2 View report
Rīgas FS/Cerība 46. Vidusskola

Riga United Ladies picked up 3 points on Saturday after a dominant first half display.

Date published: 13/06/2016 - 16:01

Riga United FC Ladies 4-2 Rīgas FS/Cerība 46. Vsk
Gjerde 20', 71'
Vāciete 32', 87'

The Black Cats suffered horrible conditions on Saturday as they won 4-2 against Rīgas FS/Cerība 46. Vsk.  Both Captain Marit Gjerde and Liene Vāciete collected 2 goals each in either half to see off a Cerība fightback.  

The first of four goals was scored by Marit Gjerde, after Riga went on the counter in the 20th minute and a great layoff left Gjerde with a chance to fire home to make it 1-0.  Liene Vāciete made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute after a great run on the right from Linda Kazlauska, who took the ball past the full back and crossed it in only for vāciete to side-foot it in.

These two goals came from much sustained pressure in the first half from United.  Within the first 10 minutes of the match, they had 3 opportunities to open the scoring. The first two inexplicably couldn’t find their way in.  Both times the striker was put through on goal and both times they couldn’t be finished off. In the 9th minute, a very spritely Kazlauska got between the defence and fired against the crossbar from a good shot.  

The first goal coming after the half hour mark, lifted the pressure on United after they wondered if it would happen for them on the day, they held their belief though.  The conditions on the pitch made it hard for both teams to get any kind of football going, with the ball running very slowly in the waterlogged areas and the wind diverting the ball in the air. The second goal from Vāciete meant United could play their football a little more, broke down Cerība with a better passing game and went in 2-0 at half time.

With the second half starting, it took a bit of time for both teams to get going.  United Ladies started the half very sleepy and the passing game that they ended the first half with started to disappear with the ball retention leaving their game. This soon hurt them as Cerība clawed a goal back after United failed to clear a corner properly and a free shot for Cerība’s captain closed the gap to 2-1 in the 63rd minute.

This spurred the Ladies into life a little bit and after some tinkering and switching to a 4-4-2, United found their way back in it. It was left up to the captain Gjerde again to take the game by the ‘scruff of the neck’ and get the two goal cushion again.  In the 71st minute, United found they were having a little success on the left flank and a cross fired in from Vāciete found Gjerde outside the box.  After dancing around two players she fired it into the net to make it 3-1.    

8 minutes later Cerība were back in it again when no one picked up the player in the middle of the field and it was 3-2.

However, 3 minutes before the end, Vāciete made sure of the victory to a little confusion from the crowd.  After a lovely pass from the middle of the field, Vāciete took the ball in the area and smashed the ball into the goal so hard it bounced out again and people on the sidelines wondering if it had gone in.  

With two goals apiece from Gjerde and Vāciete, it means their are now 3 players on 4 goals for Riga United Ladies (Marit Gjerde, Liene Vāciete and Kristin Aune), which is a sure sign of the team’s growth in this league.

There were amazing elements to United’s game against Cerība and some of the best passing and moving there ever has been, however, United they still found themselves slipping back into not making those clinical, basic passes. Also, despite getting four goals, they could have had a lot more and finished Cerība off in the game a lot earlier.  All in all though, it was a good solid performance and a return the marked improved United that fans have come to see this season.  

After the match, the RUSG caught up with Justin Walley to get his thoughts: “We played a 3-5-2 for the first time and it worked well. We created a dozen goal-scoring chances in the first half. My only criticism would be that sometimes we don't finish teams off when we are all over them. It has happened twice against Cerība and also away at Rezekne this season. Hopefully, we can get the job done at home to Rezekne next weekend. Overall, I was very happy."    

Player of the Game: Marit Gjerde.  The captain was an absolute leader in the game. In getting the first and third goal, she pushed the team on.  Her passing was very good, completing a high percentage of them and caused a lot of problems for Cerība in midfield.