LADIES BACK TO WINNING WAYS
13 / 06 / 2016
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.