Sun 8 Sep 2013: Abbey Rangers (A) W 9-0

On paper, it seemed a tough task. Abbey Rangers are one of the best-run clubs in Surrey, formed in 1976, with large well-maintained grounds catering for north of 30 teams and something like 500 players.

But football isn't played on paper, it's played on grass, and today Teddington played football to be proud of. Despite missing a startling five players - more than a third of the squad - and playing without substitutes, the new girls' U12 team played Abbey Rangers off the park… literally.

The girls trot back after another goal goes in

Had the game been closer, it wouldn't have ended 18 minutes early when a sudden squall drenched all in rain and hail. But by then, the match was well and truly won, Teddington having piled up nine goals without reply.

With striker Ale Fairn missing at a prior engagement and no fewer than four players - Sadie Day, Millie MacEacharn, Ruby Rudkin and Ella V - swapping the stripes for the whites to play in a cricket final, manager Dave W was only just able to fill the nine-a-side team. But those on duty averaged a goal each.

Credit where it's due, though, and the goal charge was spearheaded by Phoebe Head and Sinead Morris. Fresh back from a break in Portugal and shrugging off doubts about an ankle injury, Phoebe led from the front, scoring in confident style within two minutes. She was soon joined by Sinead, gliding dangerously forward from the left wing and finishing with a flourish worthy of her idol Thierry Henry.

Emily Coulson fires in a shot as seven of Teddington's nine get forward

Phoebe and Sinead would eventually complete a hat-trick each, but this wasn't just about star players demolishing demoralised opposition. Wherever Abbey Rangers went on the pitch, they came across Teddington players enthusiastically determined to dispossess them and set up an attack.

In midfield, pocket rockets Amy Hallett and Sophie Wallman simply refused to let Abbey construct attacks, closing down with merciless joy and outplaying girls often half a foot taller than them. Amy would end up scoring two well-deserved goals.

In between the two, Emily Coulson linked midfield and attack with growing aplomb, providing the pass of the match when she took the time to look up, spy Sophie's willing run down the right wing and split three defenders with an inch-perfect ball into her path. Emily, too, got on the scoresheet.

Behind them, the back three maintained commendable concentration and increasingly joined in with attacks. While goalkeeper Charlotte Ward dealt confidently with what little came at her and centre-back Millie Theobald marshalled a back line that never panicked under pressure, right-back Ella Parkinson-Mearns and left-back Saskia Brewster took turns to maraud forward in support of their team-mates.

Attack from the back: right-back Ella Parkinson-Mearns takes a left-foot shot

They could get forward because every Teddington player looked comfortable on the ball, and every player looked out for each other – with tackles and passes. That's the secret of teamwork, and will be the key to winning harder games than this. Weaker opponents can be dribbled past, but the better defences are usually easier to unpick with through-balls. On the evidence of this game, Teddington have both the players and the team ethic to go far in this league.

Dave debriefs the soggy victors

A quick note on cricket scores: The official record shows the score was 8-0, as per an agreement between the teams following an FA request not to register winning margins bigger than eight goals. Quite right, too: there's no point humiliating youngsters by publicising excessively high scores, nor in incentivising winning teams to chase goal-difference bounties – rather than extending young players' footballing educations by giving them experience in new positions once the game's won.

On this occasion, the weather-enforced early finish denied Teddington the opportunity to switch players around. But each goal scored will be noted, so the girls' efforts will not go unnoticed. 

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Charlotte Ward (c); Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster; Sophie Wallman, Emily Coulson (1), Amy Hallett (2), Sinead Morris (3); Phoebe Head (3). No subs.