March 7th Berlin.
A couple of months ago our beloved Resi got in touch with the club and invited us all down to Berlin to participate in a tournament to benefit victims of the bushfires in Australia. The Lynx took up the challenge and scraped together a team and with the help of few friends we had a squad of 10 on the day.
The weather on Saturday likened that of Sweden of late, nothing great to say about it therefore, and the pitch while even, had collected it’s fair share of water, puddles and mud yay! We went in with the goal of preparing for Champions league, getting familiar with what works and doesn’t work etc.
First match was up against Berlin and we quickly realised that this was a team to be respected, they had great athletic ability, skills, and teamwork and are a team to keep an eye on in the future. Berlin deserved the win but it gave us a great opportunity to analyze, find our weaknesses and strengths and change up the plan moving forward. With a bunch of debutants for the Lynx it was a respectable effort.
Hamburg was our next opponent and they also showed how well they work as a team. They led the whole game and while we were much more competitive around the ground the plan still needed adjustment. Mid way through the second half the skills cleaned up and everyone contributed , we began building possession chains, passages of play became cleaner. Quicker ball movement led to a late comeback and in the last 10 seconds from a mark at the centre circle, Maria Falkesgaard drilled the ball into the forward line which seemingly just landed in the hands of Malin Anderberg right on the siren. From 15 metres out it was a sure thing and Malmö pipped the Dockers by 1 point which we didn’t find out until 5 minutes later, we actually thought we’d lost. Roars of excitement rang out followed by a spontaneous eruption of the club song.
We got through to the final after Berlin had a convincing win over Hamburg, Berlin were definitely the team to beat. Very clear plans were layed down as to how to deal with this team and players responded well. They evened up the wins at the stoppages and won more ground balls leading to more efficient movement of the ball forward. Berlins strong backline kept us locked out on many occasions but we were also doing the same to them. Berlin led for most of the match but again late in the second half the Lynx staged a fightback and locked the scores up with a few minutes to go. After a long day running around in the cold some of the Lynx started to resemble penguins and Berlin just had that little bit of run left in them and came with two late goals to seal the win.
Lots of ticks for the day, debutants Kia, Emily, Maddie, Zara, Chelsea and Maria all had blinders, Marias leadership was greatly appreciated and Maddie got her first goal as a Lynx, Kia contested well in the backline in a shutdown role.
Our experienced crew learnt a lot from the day Sammy, Kat, Malin, Hedvig and Jos helped develop the teams strategy during the day. Malin as always chimed in with some super goals, Kat and Sammy hunted the ball hard, Hedvig from the mosquito fleet put pressure on in the forward line and after a knee to the chest and a solid winding was back out there after a few minutes. Jos fought hard in the backline and after straining her leg managed to play in the last game and allow us to have a rotation on the bench, selfless.
Afterparty was awesome at Belushis, the Lynx won both the boat race and beer pong. Berlin Crocs you are awesome! Thanks to those that put us up and the organizers for doing such a great job. A substantial amount of funds were raised towards the bushfire relief, so great to see the European footy family getting behind those in need back home. Next hitout is at Champions league in Amsterdam April 4th, can’t wait!
/Ryan
