On Sunday the Under 18 Girls won all their 5 matches to become South East Indoor Champions and qualify for the National Finals on Thursday 13th January at Repton.
The tournament started with a potentially crucial game against a strong St Lawrence outfit. We had more possession than them at the outset and took an early lead. We were creating more chances but they were dangerous in transition and scored with their first attack from a short corner. We went ahead again, they equalised and we scored our third. We had half a dozen short corners that we didn’t manage to convert which kept the game very close and just before the whistle for time went they got a short corner. We charged it down but they got another short corner…. and another and another… four in total but a mixture of committed defending and really good goalkeeping kept the ball out and we gained an invaluable 3-2 victory.
One game off then back on against our local rivals St George’s. Once again we had more possession but they broke away and scored with their first visit to our D! We equalised before half time and dominated the second half. We had another 5 short corners that went over the bar, past the post or saved off the line but we finally got the winner less than a couple of minutes from time to win 2-1.
Only one game off again and then the hosts Bedes with their England keeper presenting us with a good challenge. We played well again and went 2-0 up in the first half, including a short corner at last! Another goal early in the second half effectively secured the win and although they got a consolation goal, 3-1 was a fair reflection of the game.
Mrs Smuts and Mattie H. were imparting useful info on our opposition as well as our own play whilst St Lawrence and St George’s played out a feisty 1-1 draw. Although we were starting to show some signs of tiredness due to the programme giving us the fewest breaks of any team, we controlled the game against Sevenoaks to go 2 up and their consolation goal was not enough to stop us winning 2-1.
With St Lawrence then beating Bedes, we had secured top spot with one game to spare but with everyone in the squad being essential at this point we played more than well enough to beat Hurst 2-0 and finish with a 100% record.
Clearly more work on short corners is required before the national finals but with only one side going through to the finals, to qualify from such a strong area with a game to spare was an excellent achievement.
Squad: Skye B., Liv B., Katie C., Liv G., Siena K., Tory L., Liv M., Immi P., India S., Boau-Lilly S., Pippi S., Eliza W.
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