Thrills at girls' football cup finals

8:09am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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Wiltshire County Womens and Girls Football League

The League Cup Finals were held at The Conigre, home of Melksham Town FC on Sunday.

It was great to be able to hold the finals at a top class local ground again for the first time in three seasons.

The weather threatened to be a bit of a dampener, but despite some heavy showers we were treated to an excellent day of exciting football and some great entertainment.

Many thanks go to Melksham Town who kindly allowed the Wiltshire Girls League to make use of their facilities.

We also owe a great deal to Rob Bridges, Secretary of Melksham Town Youth FC for all of his help liaising with Melksham FC and the League Committee.

The matches were held in age group order, starting with the younger groups, culminating in the U14 11-a-side Final.

U10

The U10 Final promised to be a close match with the top two teams in the league, Melksham Town and Swindon Spitfires facing each other for the fourth time this season.

Host club Melksham were eager to get the event off to a winning start.

There were chances at both ends, but the teams turned around at half-time still goalless.

The teams both seemed a little nervous, the sense of occasion maybe getting to both, and the teams continued to match each other during the second half and the end of normal time arrived with the scoreline still blank.

However it was Spitfires who broke the deadlock in the first period of extra time when Amy Bains ran onto a cross and scored.

Spitfires hung on to record a 1-0 victory and spoil somewhat the Melksham Town celebrations, however both teams had shown tremendous effort and enthusiasm.

U11

The U11 Final threatened on paper to be something of a formality with Trowbridge Town Youth meeting Highworth Town.

Trowbridge have already clinched the League title with a 100 per cent record so far this season and they were expected to make it a league and cup double. But no one had told Highworth.

Trowbridge made the early running and it was a little against the run of play when Highworth took the lead midway through the first half through Natalie Baines.

They held their lead and started to get on top through to half-time.

After the break Trowbridge Town threw everything at Highworth in an effort to equalize, hitting the post three times in the course of the game.

Highworth though continued to play some neat, attractive football making good use of the space afforded them on the Conigre pitch, and despite some close shaves, held on to lift the trophy by 1-0.

A tremendous result for Highworth Town in their first season in the league, the girls were a great credit to the coaching team.

U12

The U12 Final was an all-Swindon affair, with Swindon Spitfires up against Swindon Town Ladies.

Town were playing in unfamiliar blue after losing the toss for change of colours.

The game proved to be another very close encounter, Spitfires were the stronger team in the first half and two goals from Tyler Smith put them in the driving seat.

Town came more into the game in the second half but Spitfires held strong to clinch the trophy by 2-0.

U13

The U13 Final saw host club Melksham Town Youth, already crowned league champions, against rivals Trowbridge Town Youth, runners-up in the league.

This was a pulsating game, with huge commitment from both teams and some strong tackles throughout.

It was Trowbridge who, somewhat against the run of play took the lead in the first half, the goal coming off a Melksham defender.

Melksham battled hard to get back on level terms but it was not until the second half that they found an equalizer, again an own goal.

Trowbridge however did not give up and retook the lead soon after.

Melksham then laid siege to the Trowbridge goal looking for an equalizer, as we entered the second minute of time added by the referee finally Natasha Park found the net to take the match into extra time.

There were no further goals and so the match went to penalties.

The first Melksham penalty was missed, while Trowbridge scored their first.

Melksham's second penalty was well saved by the keeper, but Trowbridge could not clinch the shoot-out as they missed their second spot kick.

However with Melksham incredibly missing their 3rd kick, Trowbridge had no need to take their final kick.

So Trowbridge denied Melksham a league and cup double and finally ended the Host Club's hopes of lifting a trophy in their home town.

U14 seven-a-side

Trowbridge Town Youth and league newcomers Lavington Juniors contested this final.

Trowbridge clinched the league title some weeks ago with a 100 per cent record, while Lavington in their first season sit in fourth place.

With Lavington missing a number of players through other commitments they were always going to find it a huge mountain to climb.

However they played with tremendous fighting spirit, and limited Trowbridge by some stout defending, but in the end Trowbridge ran out comfortable 6-0 winners.

The Lavington players can take a great deal of encouragement though and should be very proud of their efforts this season.

For Trowbridge a League and Cup double rounds off an exceptional season.

U16 seven-a-side

Devizes Town and Wootton Bassett Town Youth have been the class of the Under-16 division throughout the season, and in recent weeks Wootton Bassett had even managed to inflict a defeat on Devizes which at that point had kept their slim title hopes alive.

Devizes however were firm favourites and an early goal looked to have set them fair for a straightforward win.

However Bassett battled well and had some good chances themselves, though the Devizes keeper was on top form.

Devizes went into the break with a 2-0 lead, but after the interval they gradually extended their lead as Bassett looked for a way back and left themselves exposed at the back.

Devizes eventually notched up 6 goals, two of which came from captain Amy Longo and deservedly took the honours, following on from their win in last year's under-14 final.

U14 11-a-side

The final game of the day was the showpiece event with Swindon Badgers and Swindon Town Ladies contesting the U14 final on the full Conigre pitch.

There had been a lot of rain during the day, and with 6 finals already having been played the pitch had begun to cut up and become quite heavy.

Both teams were well up for the match and there was a lot of effort in midfield but clear cut chances were few and far between.

Badgers were on top in the first half but towards the end of the half they looked to be running out of steam.

After the break Badgers found their second win, but again could not carve out a clear opening.

Swindon Town gradually came back into the game and it was no surprise when they took the lead late into the second half through Libby Gale.

Badgers tried hard to find an equaliser but time ran out for them and Town were victorious by the single goal.

All in all a tremendous day celebrating all that is best in the girls' game.

Five extremely close hard-fought matches, and 14 teams in all enjoying a great atmosphere.

We hope to have the opportunity to repeat the event at Melksham next season.