Maidenhead U14 Girls continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 demolition of last years Berkshire Division 1 league winners Thatcham Town. This puts the U14 Maidenhead girls at the top of the table after playing arguably the hardest 2 teams in the league in the first 2 games.

The girls were proud of their performance in warm conditions and the coaches were especially proud of the clean sheet! Lily May Shepard had an outstanding game with great decision making and all of the girls stepped up their performance and possession focus.

Becky Tinnelly scored the first goal which was soon followed by an outrageous goal from a huge distance from Dani Yakubovich. Emily McMaster finished the contest with the final goal.

Great support was given on the day by parents and many thanks to linesman volunteer Toby Potter.

The girls have all now chosen a personal goal for the season ahead and by the looks of things they’re already on track….

Maidenhead U14 Girls started the season with a superb 4-2 win over traditionally strong local rivals Wargrave. The game saw 3 girls make strong club debuts – Hattie Parkinson, Becky Tinnelly and Violet Kinston-Wheeler made a big difference to the teams performance and are very welcome in the team. Becky Tinnelly and Emily McMaster each scored 2 goals and the 26 degree temperature meant that with no subs the team got a great fitness workout! Coach Andy wants the girls to focus on maintaining possession and communication this season….

Last season Maidenhead lost to Wargrave 2-1 and 6-1 so the girls can rightly be proud of a great first result. Next up Thatcham Town – who won the league last season…..

What a start! Maidenhead U12 Girls vs Laurel Park

Maidenhead U12 girls started the 2019/2020 season with weather fit for a summer tounament rather than the first game of the season.

Maidenhead quickly took control with Ellie assisting Maddie to the first goal in around five minutes. Soon Maddie laid the ball back to Charlotte to score the second from the edge of the penalty area. By the end of the half Maddie had three more with assists from Lucy and Amelie.

Laurel Park didn’t let their heads go down and the defence had to stay alert, but the few times they got past, Miah, Lucy and Grace in the back row, Sophie in goal had it under control.

In the second half Maddie dropped back in to defence, but the attacks continued with two goals from Amelie, another from Charlotte and one each for Lucy and Grace.

The game finished 10-0 to Maidenhead with tired girls on both sides. The longer match after the summer break in heat and with hard ground was hard work! It was the first match with the off-side rule applied as well, so the girls had plenty to think about.

Laurel Park had a tough day and the score didn’t reflect the effort they put in and the skill they showed. They were still fighting to the end – missing the Maidenhead goal by inches with a great shot just before the final whistle blew.

Thanks Vinnie for great coaching that showed in the girl’s play and the girls from both team for putting in so much effort!

23 teams from across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Hertforshire entered the Maidenhead U13 and U12 Girls home tournaments on Sat 6^th July and Sunday 7^th July 2019. For the first time ever both the U13 and U12 were tournament winners – Double Champions.

The U13/U12 full squad of c14 players were magnificent in their commitment, hard work and skillful play. Their control, physicality when needed, accuracy and power was what made the difference in a number of tight matches and also won them 2 penalty shootouts in knock-out phases.

Maidenhead U13 Girls (Blue) were undefeated, not conceding any goals in normal time, beating 2 strong Denham teams in the Semi Final and Final (1-0) to be crowned champions for the first time at this age group. (Last year the girls lost in the final on pens to a very strong Ascot team.) What was even more impressive is that both U13 teams had no substitutes available and one player coming back from a 3 day illness. Coach Andy had these words at the end “I am now retired – cannot take the pressure anymore” (he’s kidding, and of course the girls won’t let him retire)

Maidenhead U12 Girls (White) were also undefeated, didn’t concede a goal in normal time and won the final in style with a stylish and comfortable 2-0 victory following an easy 3-0 Semi Final win. Teams conquered included Marlow, Epsom and Ewell, Berkhampstead, Ruislip and Wargrave. It’s worth noting that this age group have now won their age group 3 years in a row Can they both do it again next year?!

It’s simply impossible to call out individuals as it was a massive effort from the U13/12 whites and the blues to support each other, with help from a number of Under 11s playing up in the U12s too. To have clean sheets across the board was super impressive for all the GKs too. To put out 2 teams at each age group and be competitive in both teams was great to see and meant all the girls who were available got lots of match/play time. A number of coaches from other teams were also very complimentary about the girls play and attitude.

The tournament generally was a huge success with c 250 teams overall visiting, with U13/12 parents Jennie and Steve running the results and website and volunteer management respectively. Many other U13/12 parents and spouses did big volunteering shifts too mowing, running the car park and refreshments and putting up goals. Thanks to everyone involved. A real team effort. The girls also enjoyed the sunshine, playground, BBQ, sweets and ice creams….and the football of course

Last training this Friday 12^th July before a 4/5 week summer training break.

Maidenhead Girls U13/12 have been busy at a number of summer tournaments. Some of the highlights:

U12 Girls team won Tilehurst again this year. Conceding just 2 goals in 10 matches the girls were unstoppable. A highlight was winning the Semi-Final 4-0 against a strong Tilehurst U12 team who had won their league and cup double this season, unbeaten themselves…Overall 18 teams entered from Berks/Middlesex/Wiltshire and Hampshire – to win so convincingly was v impressive!

U12 Girls won Marlow FC tournament too (Having also won it last year) – Coach Tim doesn’t remember any teams scoring against the girls at all…

U12 and U13 Girls teams both reached the Semi-Finals at Denham this year. Playing against teams such as QPR academy, Haringey Borough Academy and very strong Denham teams was a real step up for our girls. Maidenhead girls played with passion and great control/passing to beat many teams en route to the Semis!

At Sandhurst and Wargrave Tournaments U13 Girls did well to reach the Semi Finals stage and had great support from guest parents coaching and managing the girls as Tim, Paddy and Andy were unavailable

Season in numbers – Maidenhead U13 Girls 2018/19 regular season + cup matches

50 – number of goals scored. 8 players (more than half the squad) have scored goals this season

17 – number of matches

11 – number of U12 Girls in the squad (+ 4 U13 Girls) (11 is also the number of girls on the pitch each match next season….)

6 – number of clean sheets this season 🙂 

4 – number of girls in the squad selected for U13 Berks County League representative side

3 – 3rd place finish in Division 1 (Last season the girls finished 6th) (3 also equals the number of coaches and the total number of divisions at this age group)

Coaches player of the season: Emily McCartney. Players also voted her as Players player this season! Well done Emily McCartney