Started Both Games: Esson, Moore, Taylor, Longo, Kitching, Clegg
Played Both Games: Bunge, Hahn, Hand, Stott, Elliott, Brown, Hassett, Pijnenburg
Played Once: Neville, Anton, Foster, Jale, Jackson, Green
Didn’t Play: Wisnewski, Santos, Edwards, Nathan
That’s the second tour in a row where Ruby Nathan’s not gotten any minutes. Deffo one for the future but it continues to be a little surprising how she keeps getting picked so soon when there are a lot of attacking options deserving of a look-see.
Grace Wisnewski saw Pijnenburg getting subbed on in midfield ahead of her, although based on club levels and match fitness that shouldn’t be controversial.
The other two were who didn’t feature were goalkeepers. Maybe if Claudia Jenkins hadn’t withdrawn injured then she might have played the second game but there was too much of a drop from Vic Esson to the others for any deeper rotation.
Esson could have done better for a couple of the goals she conceded in these games. Not at her best after limited game time for her club lately. Her distribution was fine and she was pretty good in the air... but she’s set high standards as a shot stopper that weren’t fully met here. While Anna Leat is unavailable there’s really no challenge to her as the number one but that state of affairs won’t last forever so it’ll be interesting to see if Esson stays at Rangers after spending the last few months stuck on the bench. It’s a bit like Max Crocombe with the All Whites where staying put might mean falling behind by this time next year. Esson’s 34 years old so this is a window that may not come again.
