Maidenhead U13 Girls vs Caversham Swans (away)

The first half was a close physical contest with great football and attacks from both teams. Maidenhead had a few chances with some great crosses from Sophia, but Caversham kept breaking with one excellent shot off the cross bar and one goal.

Maidenhead started the second half with much more control and had lots of chances with Emily forcing the goal keeper to make a few saves. Eventually this paid off with Emily levelling the game.

The defence still had to cope with some brilliant breaks from Caversham. Laila, Dani and Emily played really well in defence, but the Maidenhead goalie was still kept busy with two brilliant saves – one out of the bottom corner and one hard shot tipped over the crossbar.

Caversham have beaten us the last few times we have played and a few of the girls had knocks during the game, so really well done for to Maidenhead for keeping their heads up and coming away with a draw. And thanks to Caversham for a great contest at a really nice venue!

Maidenhead U13 Girls had their second 6-0 win in two weeks with a great all round team performance against Sandhurst U13 Girls on Sat 6th Oct. Although the match felt  competitive throughout, girls outplayed Sandhurst comprehensively by the end and moved up to 3rd place in Division 1 of the Berkshire County U13s Girls League. What’s most impressive about this achievement so early in the season is:

1) There are 3 divisions in total at the U13 age group in the Berkshire County Girls League and Maidenhead Girls are now in 3rd in Division 1.

2) That 2/3 of the girls in the U13 team are U12 girls playing “up” a year effectively. They are really talented squad overall.

Charlie Potter and Lily Gibson scored Maidenheads first 2 goals, with Lily’s being a real poachers goal as the Sandhurst keeper couldn’t keep hold of a Sofia Lacey shot. Emily McMaster scored the next 4 goals including a penalty, a header from a Sofia Lacey corner and an outrageous chip over their goalkeeper to finish things off.

In very wet and cold conditions what was particularly pleasing for the coaches was the energy and effort put in by all players, whether they were in the starting 9 or were substitutes. Great flexibility was shown by Emily McCartney and Lily May Shepard playing out of their normal positions to help the team be successful.

The Girls all celebrated with a bag of sweets for keeping a clean sheet and scoring more than 4 goals……

On Saturday 29 Sept at home Maidenhead U13 Girls convincingly beat AFC Reading 6-0. It was win in style with great control, power and accuracy with all the girls playing their part. Sofia Lacey started the goals with a huge shot over the keeper having controlled a high ball herself. Lily Gibson then slotted 4 unanswered goals for the Maidenhead Girls with some excellent build up play from the whole team – defence to attack. It was Lily’s second hat trick of the season – she is on fire! Sofia then scored the last goal to finish a glorious sunny morning in style.

It was Maidenhead Girls second big win of the season and first clean sheet – having had 2 very narrow recent defeats to Wargrave and Thatcham (2-1 and 2-0). Next up are Sandhurst on 6th Oct at home on the Altwood School pitches.

Coach Andy McCartney said “Brilliant football today – nice to see Friday practice coming into play, well deserved win”

Maidenhead U13 Girls started the season with a bang with a 6-1 over Tilehurst Panthers Reds. What made the result all the more remarkable was that last season we lost both Berkshire League Division 1 matches to Tilehurst by an aggregate score of 7-1.

Emily McMaster started things rolling with a penalty, swiftly followed by a score from Rebecca Hesketh. Lily Gibson then scored a brilliant hat trick. To finish things off, Sofia Lacey scored a remarkable volley from distance…..with her left foot.

Today wasn’t about the goalscorers only though. The defensive unit of Emily McCartney, Dani Yakubovich and Laila Knowles was strong, plus two girls covered goal keeping duties with our regular keeper away and substitutes bought energy when they arrived.

After the summer off, and just one full training session for pre-season, the girls are back with a bang!

U13 Girls back with a bang

On Tue 19th June Maidenhead U12 Girls played a friendly against Chelsea FC Foundation Berkshire U12s in Reading. In 2017 the Maidenhead girls had played against and lost to Chelsea Academy players at a tournament. The Maidenhead U12 girls were therefore expecting a serious examination of their footballing skills!!

Straight from the kick off Maidenhead Girls used their control, accuracy and power to surge to a 5-0 lead at half time. In the second half they added one one goal to win 6-0 overall.

The Maidenhead U12 Girls were disciplined and determined and the Chelsea girls team had limited chances on goal.

Maidenhead goals were scored by captain Sofia Lacey (2, including one penalty) Lily Gibson (2) and Charlie Potter (1) plus Emily McMaster (1). It was a great team effort overall and we had top support from Nerys Gibson and a number of parents on the night. We hope for another match in the future.

6-0 winners against Chelsea Foundation Berkshire U12s!

Winners!

A Maidenhead Girls U11s team consisting of 3 U10s and 5 U11s won the Tilehurst U11s Girls tournament in style on Sun 10 June. 20 teams entered the tournament including 3 Tilehurst U11 girls teams…

Players were: U10s Maddie Sturt, Sophie McMaster, and Millie Cleary. U11s were Jess Buckley, Lily Gibson, Amelie Checkley, Grace Gibson and Emily McMaster.

The team were unbeaten through 11 matches in total including 9 group games playing teams including Laurel Park, Kew Park, Ashton, Thatcham and Newbury and Wokingham. They managed to win three games 5-0 within the 7 minute matches….Maidenhead beat Wargrave 2-0 in the semi final and won the final 1-0 against a strong Tilehurst team with a cracking solo goal from Maddie Sturt.

It was a remarkable achievement as some of the girls hadn’t played in many tournaments before and for some of them they were team mates for the first time.

Overall the team scored 28 goals and conceded just 2 through brilliant goalkeeping and great defence rotating – our defence was rock solid! Top scorer was Emily McMaster with 13, followed closely by Maddie Sturt with 10 and Lily Gibson with 5. Well done to all the girls and supporting parents. Next Tournament up is Maidenhead…..

Footy fun!