The league season kicked off with an away game to Surbiton at Reeds School in Oxshott in leafy Surrey. A challenging game was expected and Surbiton did not disappoint.

Having won the development league last year, where we had a number of easy matches, the side has now moved up to the premier league which is going to be a lot more of a challenge. Surbiton have 6 or 7 U14 girls sides so have significant strength in depth; they started very positively and put the pressure on Crostyx defence straight away. However the Styx girls did not help themselves by giving the ball away too many times through poor passing and a lack of ball pace. Promising runs from Demi Evarschi, Lara Chick and Izzi Zurawska in the second half petered out thanks to Surbiton's well drilled positional defence. Talia Blanco was kept busy in goal and through her usual acrobatics the scoreline was limited.

Of the 6 goals conceded, 4 were due to giving the ball away cheaply in dangerous areas. The side did up their level in the second half and did not concede until late, however that level of intensity must be there from the start if we are to compete at this much higher level.

Also 6-0 at this level is by no means a thrashing (our U14 boys beat Chelmsford 21-0!) so as long as the work is put in at training the side can get to the required standard against this quality of opposition.