DUE TO the great support I have received from last week’s debut piece, I am back!
Thank you to everyone who took the time out to read the column, it was greatly received by myself, the club and The Wokingham Paper’s profit margins, of course…
Tuesday night was our first session back after the mid-season break. Most of the girls went on holiday and used the break to their advantage; visiting Dubai, Crete and Croatia to name a few of the jaunts.
I decided to stay at home and work hard on my overall fitness and rehab for my knee injury.
Each to their own.
Although, I did regret this after seeing the glowing tans on the girls who had been abroad.
On the other hand, there are some you have to question if they actually went away with the milk bottles on show, you know who you are…. Lauren Bruton.
The first session back is always great to see the girls; to catch up, listen to the holiday stories and discuss what we thought was planned for the forthcoming weeks without any fixtures.
None of which sounded positive with running being the topic of discussion.
It was also nice to see the coaching staff and what they had prepared for us for the first session back.
Of course, we were eased back into training with a lovely light session consisting of fitness testing, it had to be done I suppose. Or did it?
Annoyingly, we have quite the talented bunch at Reading with Grace Moloney already on international duty with Republic of Ireland, currently in Finland.
Helen Ward, Rachel Rowe, Nia Jones, Charlie Estcourt, Melissa Fletcher and Kylie Davies were all selected for the Wales squad.
The girls left for camp on Wednesday, so it is safe to say the reunion was short lived.
Grace and the Republic of Ireland faced Finland on Saturday and then Montenegro on Tuesday with both games being must-win if they are to qualify for the Euros.
Wales face Norway on Tuesday, who are the top seed in the group.
Helen, however, is remaining positive with the home draw and has promised me a hat-trick and a half decent celebration.
There was a lot left to be desired with her latest one, which I made her fully aware of.
See Lois’ debut column from last week here
With this being said it is great to see the girls representing their respective countries and we wish them all the best of luck.
Hopefully both nations put in the performances needed to come through their groups and seal a place for the 2017 Euros in Holland.
We can’t talk about international football without mentioning the squad selection by Roy Hodgson earlier in the week.
For me, I was gutted and a little disappointed to not see Danny Drinkwater in the squad after the season he had.
You have to question if there was any more he could have done?
But on the flip side a gutsy choice has been made with Marcus Rashford – but is one I think will pay off.
The 18-year-old has been in great form for Manchester United this season, to my delight as a Red Devils fan, and he will bring a fearless mentality to the Euros which will allow him to flourish.
It is easy to concentrate on the controversial decisions made by the management but I feel it is as important to focus on the squad that has been selected; a very young and talented group of players, so let’s get behind the boys and here’s hoping for a very successful Euro campaign.
Got a question you’d like to put to Lois for her next column? Email sport@wokinghampaper.co.uk or tweet @WokinghamSport.
You can also follow Lois on Twitter @_Roche. Let her know what you think about the column!
