U12 & U11 teams played over the 27 & 28 May weekend at the annual Denham tournament. The standard of girls football overall was really high across the tournament…..venturing into London past the M25 means teams (in other age groups) included youth teams from QPR, Arsenal and other London areas. Indeed the U12 winners came down from Cambridge.

The U12s played 5, won 3 and lost 2, missing out on a quarter final place by one goal difference only. Ironically a team we beat in the pool made the final! It was a great learning experience for the squad on the day. Some of the U12s then supported the U10s in the afternoon and enjoyed the onsite BBQ.

The U11s won 4 pool matches and lost 2. In the QF they went a goal down but came back with resilience (and some of the skills Coach Andy had trained on the Friday night) to win 2-1. They lost the SF 1-0 and were really proud of their attitude, commitment and the fun had on the day. Plus the cakes and strawberries and cream

Over both age groups (U12 and U11) overall there were goals galore from Emily McMaster (14), Lily Gibson (3), Sofia Lacey (1) and Charlie Potter bagged 2 goals on her club debut, including one spectacular one. Welcome to the team Charlie! Goal Keepers Matilda, Sofia and Emily (McM)  did a great job overall with 7 clean sheet games and overall defence was solid with only 7 goals conceded over both the U11 and U12 tournaments. A great achievement with such high standard players there …we’ll be back for a brilliantly organised and well refereed tournament next year. Thanks to parents for all the support…

PS And Fulham won on the Saturday at Wembley …. 🙂 …Sarah

Throw!

Action

Great fun

SUNDAY 20MAY – THATCHAM TOURNAMENT AT NEWBURY RUGBY CLUB

Maidenhead Boys & Girls FC had the following girls teams playing at this Girls Only Tournament:

U15 Girls – AM

We only had 5 girls for this 6aside tournament and despite asking the other teams at the Managers’ Meeting to go down to 5 players against us only 1 of the teams did.  Real shame and not typical of the other age groups at the Tournament at all.

The team was:  Lauren Moriarty, Jess Southby, Aya Ounzi, Ariela Veizaj and Izzy Copper and the Manager was Laura Palfrey

U14 Girls  – AM

Team was:

• U14s:  Priya Handa, Amelia Gilbert, Olivia Brienza, Maizy Scott
• U13s:  Gemma and Emily Harvey

U12 Girls – AM

Team was:

• U12s:  Emily “Oonagh” McCartney, Rebecca Hesketh, Nerys Gibson
• U11s:  Matilda Walker, Lily May Shepherd, Georgina Evans and Amelie Checkley (these U11s played again in the U11 Tournament in the afternoon)

The team played well, but didn’t make it through to the knockout games.

• Won 1 game v Thatcham Town – cracking shot from Rebecca Hesketh
• Drew 2 games 0-0
• Lost 2 games 0-1

U11 Girls – PM

Team was:

• U11s:  Matilda Walker, Lily May Shepherd, Georgina Evans, Amelie Checkley, Lily and Grace Gibson, Laura McAllister

W1, D2, L3 – 2 goals to Lily May Shepherd and 2 clean sheets for Matilda Walker

U10 Girls – PM

Team was:

• U10s:  Lizzy Ainscough, Amy Martin, Ellie Godleman, Charlotte Hesketh
• U09s:  Iris Gannon, Olivia Lacey

Charlotte’s older sister Rebecca who had played in the morning but being U12 couldn’t play in the afternoon with the U11 team, stepped up to be the Manager of the U10 Girls (under my supervision!) and did a great job as the U10 team won their group with 11 points for 3 wins and 2 draws.

• Game 1 – Drew 0-0
• Game 2 – Won 1-0 v Tilehurst Panthers – goal by Lizzy Ainscough
• Game 3 – Won 2-0 v Oakley Unicorns – goals from Amy Martin and Ellie Godleman
• Game 4 – Drew 0-0 v Winchester City Flyers

Everyone got awarded a Win against the team that didn’t turn up

They then met AFC Reading in the Quarter Final and after drawing 0-0 it went to penalties and Maidenhead only got knocked out on the 6th round of penalties.  AFC Reading went on to win the competition.

U09 Girls – AM

Team was just 2 girls!!:  Iris Gannon and Luisa McAllister

Having warned the organizers the day before that we only had 2 girls to bring, they encouraged us to come anyway and appealed to the other managers to lend us players which they did.

Our girls had a great time and we got to meet several players from these other teams:  Thatcham Town, Thatcham Tornadoes and Winchester – who all lent us players throughout the tournament.

All the girls participating got medals at the ceremony later and when it was Maidenhead’s turn we invited all the girls who had played for us to stand on the podium with our 2 girls which filled the podium up!

Maidenhead pulled together a U11 girls team to play at Sandhurst Summer Tournament. The team was a mixture of girls from the U10 team playing up and some of the U11 girls who normally play up in the U12 team.

The team took a while to get warmed up and lost the first two games 1-0 to Rushmoor and 3-0 to Tilehurst Panthers. There was some great play though with saves from Charlotte and some great runs from Georgina.

Maidenhead managed to get in to the swing and got a draw against Thatcham Town Blues and a win against Tilehurst Panther Belles with the goal from Charlotte. This gave us a respectable 4 points; not enough to make it into the finals, but the girls had the opportunity for a game in the playoffs against Wokingham and Emmbrook.

The final match was a tense game, with great play from all the girls forcing a 1-1 draw and leading to sudden death penalties. A good save from the Wokingham and Emmbrook goalie on the first penalty meant the Maidenhead goalie had a difficult job. She stood her ground brilliantly, but a great shot put us out.

A brilliant day and given the girls weren’t used to playing together and had no subs they did brilliantly.

Maidenhead Girls came 2nd at the 13th May Sandhurst 7-a-side tournament, losing 1-0 to eventual winners Wargrave in the final match of the day. 8 teams took part.

Maidenhead Girls won matches against Ascot (2-0), Petersfield (2-0), Shinfield (2-0) and Wokingham and Emmbrook (3-0) – in these four matches the goalie did brilliantly to keep a clean sheet. Maidenhead Girls also lost to Wargrave in the pool stages so they were deserved winners of the tournament.

Team on the day: Emily McCartney (capt), Lily Gibson (1 goal), Rebecca Hesketh, Laila Knowles, Sofia Lacey (1 goal) , Matilda Walker and Emily McMaster (7 goals including one hat-trick).

The girls improved through the day through the six matches. The benefits of Friday night training showed through too. They practiced corners on Friday night this week and one of the best goals of the day today way a great header by Emily McMaster from a corner taken by Sofia Lacey.

OK, not actually playing in the cup final (yet), but the club had a great trip up to Wembley to see Chelsea play Arsenal in the Women’s FA cup.

A lot of support for Chelsea given the matching kit was rewarded by a great game, some brilliant play and a win for the Blues.

Thanks to Sarah for organising and the Mums / Dads for bringing the supporters along.

Maidenhead U12 Girls finished the season with a big win over a strong Wargrave team. It was great to see injured players returning to play (Laila Knowles and Emily McCartney) and support (Grace Gibson) what is turning out to be a very talented team. Playing in the sunshine again, at last, was great for kids and parents alike.

The first Maidenhead score (an own goal by Wargrave) was caused by attacking pressure and speed from Lily Gibson and the first half finished a tight 3-2 up to Maidenhead. Great performances from all of the girls in the second half with an attitude of never stopping and high energy meant Maidenhead scored 4 goals in the last 15 minutes. Sofia Lacey scored a penalty with the last kick of the match to take her tally to 2 goals and Emily McMaster found the net 5 times in the match. Two of these were identical and set up by great passes from the wing from Rebecca Hesketh.

Some of the girls are celebrating the end of the season with a trip to the waterpark at Liquid Leisure organised by social organiser Jennie Knowles.

Big thanks to Andy McCartney our coach for the first time this season, His coaching and the girls attitude, effort and fun focus means it’s been an enjoyable season for everyone involved. We now take a break from matches for a month until summer 5/6 a side tournaments