Southampton Saints Girls have three teams heading to the ESF Tournament National Finals in July, after winning regional events at the weekend, where awards were presented by Casey Stoney and Danny Murphy.
By Pete Manson
Last weekend saw the annual ESF Regional 7 a side tournament in Bognor. This presdigious tournament attracts some of the top grass roots teams from around the country and the winners go on to play in the national finals in July. Saints’ U-12s and U-13s have previously won the national titles and proved too good for the opposition again this year. This year Saints will send three teams to the National finals after impressing the crowds at Bognor.
Saints U-12s retained their ESF Bognor title in a thrilling climax. The tournament started with a shaky 1-1 draw against a tough St.Albans City team, a Larissa White goal claiming what turned out to be a vital point. Further games on Saturday against Biggleswade and Kempston provided 7-0 and 3-0 wins. This left the team in second position going into Sunday morning, 2 points behind a strong looking LOASS.
Sundays first game was a comfortable 7-0 win against Thurrock set up the win which meant 3 points in the last game against league leaders LOASS would bring the title.
The final game proved to be a titanic battle between two excellent sides, both keepers made excellent saves before the golden moment from Arabella Suttie just before half time. A loose ball in LOASS penalty area was rifled into the top corner. A brilliant defensive effort kept LOASS at bay in the second half and bought celebrations from the whole team and parents at the end.
The girls collected their winners trophies from ex-Liverpool player Danny Murphy and England captain Casey Stoney.
Saints U-13s finished the first day top of the table after beating Tattenhoe 3-0, Kewford Eagles 7-0 and LOASS 3-0 with Lisa Gilham demonstrating two magical long range curling goals.
On the Sunday it was still all to play for and Saints went all out making sure they won every single game they played, beating Kempton 4-0, Hitchen Belles 2-0 and Tower Hill 3-1. They almost kept a clean sheet throughout the entire tournament, until the final minute of the last game when Tower Hill snuck one past the keeper.
There was a special moment for Alicia Hill when she was awarded a Golden Ball in recognition of her hard work and determination on the pitch.
Saints U-16s completed the trio of champions. With David Peake acting as a caretaker manager for the weekend and three players playing up a year, this was a anxious time for the team, but their worries were unfounded.
The first game ended as an impressive 7-0 win but only a cheeky goal settled the second in their favour, while thr third required fighting back from 2-1 down to win 3-2.
A 1-0 victory followed against a big strong team who had scored 11 goals in three games and had conceded. After a 30-minute rest and with only the second bottom team left to play, Saints relaxed and after taking the lead in the first half, Peake decided to unleash the keeper, swapping her for an outfield player in the second half. This proved too ambitious as Saints conceded an early goal, however they dug in and came out victors with a 3-1 win.
Pictured: Southampton Saints U-13s receiving their trophies from Casey Stoney and Danny Murphy.
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