Girls' Football Tournament
The Girls' football Team were celebrating their first piece of silverware this evening as they finished joint top with the Bollin in the annual girls' football tournament held at Wellington School.
The girls began the group stage with Stamford Park and Altrincham CofE, having to play both teams twice in four eight minute games.
Slick passing, intelligent movement and a keen eye for goal were seen in every game. Lottie 'Smooth Touch' and Elkie 'The Powerhouse' were a constant threat going forward, pushing the defenders to their limit. Izzy 'The Maestro', Imogen 'Smart Feet' and Evie 'Cool Head' pushed the team forward from the middle, passing the ball around with ease and showing superb touches and excellent decision making throughout. Natalie 'Safe Hands' made two outstanding saves and Mollie 'First Touch' ensured that nothing got passed her! A special mention must go to Rebecca 'The Blocker', who made excellent stops in defence and many mazy runs forward, scoring and setting up many goals.
The girls' finished top of their group unbeaten and faced runners up from the other group, Navigation Road. An early goal by Lottie settled the nerves, but Navigation caught St Vincent's on the break and scored from their only chance of the whole game. Then ensued five minutes of relentless pressure from the blues, who ended up scoring three more goals in a 4-1 thriller, leading to the girls setting up a final against the mighty Bollin.
And what a final it was...the game started with two teams playing to a high standard, the speed of the game taking many spectators by surprise. Both teams had excellent chances to score before St. Vincent's went one goal up! Bollin then piled on the pressure on the St. Vincent's defence, with Rebecca and Mollie playing at their best in order to cancel out the threat from some excellent Bollin players.
In fact, it was only in the final minute, in fact final few seconds, that they managed to break the resistance. The game finished 1-1 and moved into the Golden Goal period - the next goal won the game and the tournament.
Eight minutes of this could not separate the sides and it was agreed that both teams would share the top prize.
The girls went home with gold medals and Mr Blain and the parents went home to have a rest and reduce their blood pressure after such an exciting and tense final.
Well done girls for such a fantastic effort! Also, St Vincent's would like to say thank you to The Bollin for being wonderful competitors, showing a dedication to their team as well as being very friendly and sporting throughout.