GIRLS MAKE HISTORY – CHAMPIONS!
HISTORY MAKERS CROWNED SOUTH WEST CHAMPIONS, NEXT UP THE NATIONAL FINALS!
On the 30th January 2018, the Mounts Bay U12 girls football team travelled to Torbay to compete at the ESFA South West indoor 5-a-side finals. The team qualified for the regionals having won the West Cornwall schools area tournament back in December 2017. The girls are now history makers being the first ever team from Cornwall to win the regional finals. The team will now represent the South West at the national finals which will be staged at the prestigious Birmingham Play Football Centre on Monday 5th March 2018.
A few words from Mr K.Lawrence, Head of Football Development…
“This is a fantastic achievement for the girls, all the focus and effort thus far developing the girls game has climaxed in just one moment with this team winning such a prestigious event”
“The whole group should be so proud of their achievements and they have all contributed throughout this successful journey. One of our players (Mari Ward) in particular received a special award from the English Schools FA council members for her superb display throughout the tournament, Mari has been involved at our Football Development Centre for many years now and she certainly has a bright future ahead within the female game”.
“I am also delighted that three of our current Wildcats players were also involved, i have no doubt the introduction of the Wildcats programme has played a crucial part in the girls success. Also, a special mention to the Wildcats coach ‘Anika’ who has worked wonders with the girls. The Wildcats programme is open to all players from any school or club, to find out more info please click the link – Girls Wildcats ”
“The girls football teams at Mounts Bay have been strong for many years now and it’s great to see the teams competing at national level as well as locally. I wish to thank Mr M.Westren for his time and effort with the girls at the regional finals and for Miss C.Julian for her support and for driving the girls to the event. Well done girls, we are all very proud indeed”.
Tournament report below from Mari Ward (team captain)…
In our first league game we beat Westfield 2-0 with two goals from Mari Ward. Our second league game was against Gordano where we unfortunately lost 3-1 with another goal from Mari Ward. In our final league game we beat St Bernadette 5-0, with four goals from Mari and a first goal for Saffron Hills.
We met St Bernadette again but this time in the semi-finals where we won 2-0, with another goal from Mari and a first goal for Isabel Harvey. We met Gordano again in the final where we hoped to get our revenge as we lost against them earlier in the group stages, however, this turned out to be an end to end match with the full time score finishing 2-2 with both goals from Mari Ward with a special mention to our goalie India Angove who pulled off some important saves to keep the score level. After a positive team talk we were ready and refreshed for extra time where we took an early lead in extra time, until Gordano equalised with a few minutes to play forcing the final to a penalty shootout. India Angove made some great saves but so did the opposition goal keeper making the score 3-3 after five penalties each.
Next up was sudden death with Gordano missing their penalty and up stepped Mari to slot home the winning penalty which sparked emotional scenes and to cap off a memorable day. We are so proud to become the first ever girls side from Cornwall to progress this far.
Squad list – Mari Ward, India Angove, Isla McLeod, Maeya Mason, Cery’s Arthur, Saffron Hills, Honey Thorn, Isabel Harvey.
