Women’s Team Head Coach Carl Alexis’ Tournament 2 Review 2022
With trepidation we travelled to Birmingham to play our second tournament of the year.
We were already down key players due to injuries and work commitments but this got worse with the loss of another player on the day due to illness. Unfortunately this depleted our thin-on-the-ground defence even further but our team unhesitatingly faced the challenge with their usual positive attitude and dug deep to fill in all the gaps.
Up first were the Warriors, a team that had beaten us soundly last year. We knew this would be an uphill challenge but held on to the belief that there is always a chance.
Unfortunately the Warriors had not missed a beat since last season and once again showed us why they finished at the top of the division the year before. They were seemingly able to score at will and prevent us from doing likewise. Often we didn’t help ourselves as under the immense pressure we made some costly mistakes that the Warriors were quick to take advantage of.
We may have come out on the wrong side of the 67-0 score but I and my coaches were immensely proud of our team with their never-say-die attitude and refusing to put their heads down even when the score was beyond their reach.
Losing yet even more players in game one it was touch and go as to whether we could compete in the second fixture, but after a lengthy discussion with first my coaches and then the team it was decided to give it our all.
As the Wembley Stallions were unable to attend the tournament due to low numbers this would be the only game for the Home team so the Lions wanted to put on a show for their fans and they did just that.
Taking command of the game early the Lions piled on the pressure on both sides of the ball and despite some valiant attempts from both our offence and defence we were not in a position to make any headway against them. Instead we settled down and tried to eke out as many positives as we could, things that we could take away from the game and use to our advantage in the future; pass completions, first downs, gang tackling, halting drives etc.
The Lions beat us convincingly 49-0 and are possibly the best team in the country at the moment and whilst we aim to one day reach their level it is a known fact that anything worthwhile takes time. We will keep improving one step at a time until we reach the stage where we can challenge them for that title.
Overall it was not a great day for us, but a day with football is better than a day without and in true Exile style the team finished the day by partaking of a famous Birmingham curry in a nearby curry house before setting off back home.
Helmet Stickers for plays of the game went to:
Game 1: Debs for an outstanding run for a rookie against one of the toughest defences we will face.
Game 2: Charlie George for her outstanding fingertip catch.
MVP of the day went to Amber Dhana of our O/D line for her ironman play and never give up attitude.