Maidenhead U13 girls come from behind to beat Caversham 3-1

Maidenhead U13 Girls bounced back from a disappointing and bruising 0-0 draw against AFC Reading the week before and also conceding the first goal against Caversham on Saturday 9 Feb at Altwood School.Lily Gibson scored 2 goals and Charlie Potter scored 1. The Caversham GK was outstanding and saved lots of potential goals…

The last time the girls played Caversham it was 1-1 draw – the girls are improving all the time and are back up to 3rd in Divison 1 in the Berkshire County Girls Football League.

Maidenhead stuck to their game plan and with a match day squad of 14 were able to make substitutions to keep the team fresh and make sure everyone got a game.

It’s the Half Term break now and the girls will take part in a team cake “bake off” on 2 March…..

Maidenhead U13 Girls were runners up in the Berkshire County Girls Annual 5 a side Futsal Tournament on Saturday 19 Jan.

Against extremely tough opposition the Maidenhead U13 girls didn’t concede a goal throughout the entire competition (8, 8 minute matches by the end) until the last 30 seconds of the final where they went 1-0 down to winners Thatcham Town.

Maidenhead U13 Girls topped their group by beating AFC Reading, Wargrave and Laurel Park and drawing 0-0 against Tilehurst and Thatcham Town. In the pool, goals were scored by Rebecca Hesketh, Georgina Evans, Daniela Yakubovich and Emily McMaster (2).

In the Quarter and Semi Final both games ended 0-0 and Maidenhead won both on penalty shootouts with calm heads from the 3 penalty takers of Lily Gibson, Sofia Lacey and Emily McMaster.

3 girls shared the Goalkeeping duties on the day and Lily May Shepherd was a star throughout!

The tournament was played in a great spirit overall and was an interesting and different football experience.

Maidenhead U13 Girls bounced back from being knocked out of the Berks County League Girls Cup the previous week with a convincing 4-0 win over Laurel Park at home in wet conditions. Georgina Evans was player of the match – she has shown huge improvement in recent weeks. Sofia Lacey scored one goal, poaching a shot from Lily Gibson that had come off the post and back into play. Emily McMaster got a hattrick including a penalty.

Many of the girls and the parents celebrated the last home game before Christmas with minced pies and mulled wine at Coach Andy’s house afterwards. Last match before the Christmas break is next Saturday, 8th Dec – away at Laurel Park!

4-0 win over Laurel Park

Maidenhead Girls U13s lost 3-2 against Wargrave in a very tight Berkshire County Girls Football League Cup cup clash. Wargrave scored first and Sofia Lacey equalised for Maidenhead. Wargrave are a very strong local side who played some excellent football and scored 2 more to make it 3-1 at Half Time. Maidenhead fought back with a goal from Emily McMaster but they couldn’t quite make the equaliser happen. Girl of the Game was Laila Knowles who also captained the side on the day.

It’s the group stage of the Cup, with one more match next Saturday against Tilehurst and then we are back to league matches.

Official Team Mascot!

Maidenhead U13 Girls got their League Cup for the Berkshire County Girls League off to a flier with a 4-0 win over Laurel Park on Saturday 10th November.

On a pitch that had as much mud as it had grass, the first half was explosive with 2 goals each for Charlie Potter and Lily Gibson. The second half was much more even and with no goals conceded the Maidenhead Girls will get a bag of sweets to share at training on Friday night!

Whilst it was a great all round team performance again, Dani Yakubovich won the girl of the game accolade. Next up in the cup are Wargrave…..

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