Football

U14s County Cup

Wow! What an outstanding performance from our U14s football team last week to win the County Cup football final 4-0 against Croxley Danes.

The girls had earmarked getting ‘revenge’ after being knocked out 4-3 by the same team last season in the semi final. Croxley then went on to win the final, so we beat the defending champions. Presdales started fast and kept their foot on the accelerator throughout. They were 3-0 up at half time with Croxley only fashioning one half chance. They were all excellent goals with a quite astonishing 35 yard strike from Liv White bringing gasps from the stands and also from me! I had privately being saying to myself ‘no, don’t shoot from there, you’re too far out’…..and then an absolute rocket rippled the roof of the net! This was Liv’s second after rounding the keeper and finishing calmly to put Presdales in front early in the match. Keira Gale scored a third with a lovely mazy run and controlled finish into the corner.

It was a huge pitch for their age group but with a big squad, we were able to rotate as necessary when the girls got tired without losing our shape or structure. This paid dividends with Annabel Guy coming back onto the pitch after a deserved rest and within minutes showing her electric speed to run past the Croxley defence and smash a brilliant left foot finish into the top of the net to make it 4-0.

Lots of preparation went into getting the team ready for this match and you could feel their confidence ahead of the match. I’m so happy for the girls, especially after seeing the tears from the U13s last week when they narrowly lost their cup final. It’s been a real privilege to be part of the journey to the final with you girls. It’s a significant achievement to win a County Cup in a very strong county, and to win it so convincingly is all credit to you as a group of players.

Marlee Seymour was voted PoM by the Sponsor for the match, well done Marlee! I found it extremely difficult to pick my Player of the Match as all of the girls played so well. In the end, I’ve gone for a joint PoM to Liv White and Aleks Ivaskevicuite who were both outstanding.

Also, special mention to Poppy Ward who has only recently started in goal for the U14s. She has done so well despite having virtually no experience of playing in goal at club level. Clearly a natural! Congratulations to all of you!! A fitting end to a fantastic season getting to the last 32 of the National Cup, and becoming County Champions!

U14s District Cup

Congratulations to our U14s who completed the ‘Double’ by winning the District Football Cup with a 4-0 win against Goffs Academy yesterday. This follows their win in the County Cup Final against Croxley Danes last week by exactly the same scoreline!

The girls dominated the match throughout and whilst it wasn’t their best performance of the season, the result was never in doubt. It took the girls a while to find their rhythm but once they did, they started to play some lovely football. Two goals in each half without reply made it a fairly comfortable afternoon.

Such a talented group of girls who are always fully committed and give everything on the pitch. They are a truly lovely group to work with. This was the last football match of this academic year and a fitting end to a truly great season for our U14s.

Goals were from Mia Schillaci Rowland, Marlee Seymour x 2 and Amy Little. Coaches PotM was the whole team. Well done to all the girls!

Athletics

Well done to all of our athletes who took part in our first county league event on Wednesday last week! A great start to the league with lots of top 3 finishes across both age groups and events!