We were proud to host our first Junior Members’ Takeover at Meadow Park on Wednesday night.
Four Junior Members were given the opportunity to go behind the scenes and take on key match day roles.
First up was our junior kit manager, Mabel (9), who arrived early to set up the dressing room to ensure the team had the perfect preparation. She was then on hand to assist our strength and conditioning coach on the pitch with the team warm-up.
Our junior match official, Elizabeth (9), oversaw the teamsheet exchange with captains Kim Little and Kirsty Pearce. She then had the important job of leading the teams onto the pitch and conducting the coin toss ahead of kick off.
Club photographer, David Price, was shadowed by junior photographer, Bethanie (15) who spent the match on the sidelines capturing the all the action. Here’s one of her best shots following Dominique Janssen’s first half goal.
Junior match reporter, Lillian (12), watched the game from the media box taking notes throughout. Post-match she interviewed Danielle Carter to get a player’s perspective on how the match unfolded.
Here’s her take on the game:
Fans at Meadow Park were thrilled to see Arsenal’s sweet victory against Reading, beating the team 3-1 on Wednesday, April 18. After defeating the opponents 3-2 and then drawing 0-0 recently it was very difficult to predict how this match would go for Arsenal Women. After the game, Danielle Carter said:
“We knew that if we get it tactically right today we would come on top, which we did. We were confident.”
During the warm up both teams looked ready to pounce, but as the whistle blew it quickly became clear that Arsenal had the upper hand and kept pushing forward. The first goal came early on in the game from team captain, Kim Little, who smashed the ball into the back of the net only eight minutes into the game. This gave the team an extra boost of confidence with many chances coming from Nobbs, Miedema and Carter.
Their efforts paid off with another goal in the 20th minute with Janssen heading a sensational goal which finished Jordan Nobbs’ powerful corner kick.
Fara Williams proved to be a real threat to Arsenal throughout the game. She sent a ball flying from the corner and into the box, but the chance was missed by Reading’s Rachel Rowe who kicked the ball just over the crossbar.
Williams’ efforts eventually resulted in a goal four minutes into the second half. With Reading now catching up, their players were suddenly energised, and Arsenal found themselves having to defend more fiercely. They were soon attacking again in Arsenal style, with Danielle Van De Donk scoring the third and final goal for Arsenal in the 75th minute.
The rest of the game saw more free kicks and two yellow cards as both sides fought tirelessly up and down the pitch.
Heather O’Reilly made her mark quickly as she entered late in the second half and created many chances. She was just off target sending the ball over the crossbar and making the home crowd go wild.
Player of the Match was awarded to Danielle van De Donk for her remarkable performance.
Supporters were loud and proud on this bright day made even brighter by Arsenal cementing their position in the Women’s Super League by gaining three points.
Ends
A special mention also goes out to our junior programme designer, Connie (4), whose artistic skills were on display on the front cover of our programme last night.
Thank you to all of our Junior Members who took part. If you would like to become a member, please visit our website
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
