Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

RHIAN ON ROA 18th April 2009

First, and while I remember, a Happy birthday to Ciaran Tierney.

We played against Roa yesterday, and this was our second game in four days. Roa is not only the team that defeated us in the Topserrien League last season, but they are also the team that beat us in the Norwegian Cup Final. We are not fans of theirs. On this occasion, the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The tie with Roa was incredibly frustrating as we deserved the win. We had opportunities to score while their goal came from a penalty shot. The game was played at their home stadium just outside Oslo, and for the first time ever, we wore our new colours, yellow and black - a little like Wasps Rugby Club. Next season Team Strommen is being amalgamated with the local professional men's team, Lillestrom, so we are going to start wearing the new colours for our away matches.

Roa did have a few chances during the match, but our keeper, Ingrid, was outstanding. Also, the team played great defense, from forwards on back. The game was a physical one that demanded major focus and plenty of hard work, I was again proud of the effort we put in as a team, although we actually need to put some of these games away and score.

Diana scored our only goal of the game when I received the ball from our goalie. I managed to make ground and put the ball in behind the Roa backline for D to run on to and chip the goalie when she rushed out. The play sounds better when I describe it like this. The reality was that my chip over the defender's foot was a little lucky.

One "interesting" incident that occurred in the game was when I took a throw in down the right side of the field near our goal line. No one on my team was making any moves to get open for me. And, because we were so deep in our end I was nervous about just chucking it as far as I could down the field. So, I decided that throwing the ball directly at the shins of the Roa player in front of me was the best possible move. The maneuver seemed to work well, as the ball bounced off her and over the goal line. There was a great uproar that ensued, probably made worse by my inability to speak Norwegian. The gist of the uproar was that Roa thought I should be red carded for unsportsmanlike behavior. Anyone have any thoughts on this??

On Friday after the match, I was feeling sore. So, I thought that going for a little hike would be beneficial. Some three hours later, I staggered hime. This was not my original plan, but the hike did end up as a really beautiful day and it was gorgeous out in the woods. I took a ton of photos. Probably we would have enjoyed the hike more if it had been a little shorter. We had training later in the day and more than one person asked if I was feeling tired. I was, but I thought I was keeping up.

Today has been an easier day, as we have another, third Topserrien game tomorrow. Maria, D and I took advantage of the free morning to visit a local flea market. This has become a new interest for me. We ended up buying a television, 3 kitchen utensils, and a clock radio, all for under $30. This would be a good deal anywhere in the world, and in Norway it is remarkable. I still think we may have been buying stolen goods from the back of a truck!