Thanks to Thomas from the Sports Unit for this report from Sunday’s Island Girl’s Football Tournament. Ed
The first Isle of Wight Girls Football Tournament took place at East Cowes Multi-Use Games Area on Sunday.
The tournament was the first of its kind on the Island, bringing together the brand new girls football teams from across the Island to compete.
Eight teams, including four from East Cowes, two from Ryde Saints Youth FC, one from Brighstone FC and one from Sandown & Lake Youth FC battled it out in an action packed morning, culminating in a nail biting East Cowes vs Brighstone final.
The morning pitted four teams in each round robin group.
Group A comprised of East Cowes ‘A’, Ryde ‘B’, East Cowes ‘D’ and Brighstone. East Cowes ‘D’ battled resiliently, but the youngest side in the competition struggled against their more experienced opponents. Brighstone eased through the group as winners and East Cowes ‘A’ just pipped Ryde ‘B’ to progress.
Group B was made up of Ryde ‘A’, East Cowes ‘B’, Sandown and East Cowes ‘A’. The group was dominated by the skilful Sandown team, who played excellent football, winning their 3 games 1-0, 3-0 and 7-0! East Cowes ‘B’ and ‘C’ both picked up points, but Ryde ‘A’ eventually grabbed the final runner’s up spot virtue of a 1-0 victory against East Cowes ‘C’.
Brighstone edged a closely fought first semi-final against Ryde ‘A’, whilst the real shock came in the second semi-final where the skilful Sandown team, including the excellent Elliseia Hatcher and Ellie Witts where beaten by a superbly determined East Cowes ‘A’ team 1-0.
The final proved to be a brilliant advert for girls football across the Island, both teams displaying some excellent football, coupled with a fantastic spirit and attitude. The game was close, with both teams hitting the woodwork; however a late goal gave the title to East Cowes ‘A’. The East Cowes team remained unbeaten throughout the day, showing markedly improved teamwork and passing with a steely defence which kept 5 clean sheets in the process!
There are various girls football sessions taking place across the Island (now including Newport and Ventnor), for further information please contact the IWC Sports Unit on (01983) 823818 or [email protected]
Click on the images below to see larger versions.
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