Year 7 Girls Lancashire Cup Final

On Thursday evening our Year  7 Girls footballers played in the final of the Lancashire Cup.  This is the first time in the history of the school that a girls team has made the final and throughout the competition they have been brilliant showcasing great skill but also a fantastic attitude.

The final, played at Darwen FC saw them take on 3 other schools, Archbishop Temple, Our Lady's (Preston) and Bishop Rawstorne.

In the opening game against Archbishop it was a very tight affair with both teams having chances in the early stages.  Midway through the first half the girls settled a little and began to speed up their play which meant they began to dominate the game and just before half time Heidi scored to give us the lead.  From there the girls worked hard to keep a clean sheet with Eleanor, Madison and Mia strong at the back.  The final score was 1-0, an excellent start.

In the 2nd game we faced Our Lady's who on Monday were crowned National Champions.  Mr Morrison asked the girls to be more aggressive in their play and press the opposition to give them no time to play.  The girls absolutely delivered with a fantastic performance that pushed the opposition all the way.  In goal, Pola was outstanding making 3 brilliant saves to keep the scores level and Betsy, Heidi and Lottie in midfield worked unbelievably hard.  Just as it looked as if the game would end in a draw Our Lady's broke through and scored with only 20 seconds of the game left to win 1-0.

The girls were disappointed but moved on to the final game determined to maintain the fantastic standard and work ethic they had showed.  Against Bishop Rawstorne we went behind to an early goal but showed great resilience to come back.  Upfront Poppy started to get chances due to her work rate and just before half time Lottie levelled the scores.  In the 2nd half we pushed on, Mr Morrison making some tactical changes, and Grace and Lacey strengthened the right hand side.  In the closing stages Lottie showed great skill and determination as well as a great left foot as she powered a goal into the top corner to give us a 2-1 win.

This meant that the girls finished as runners-up, an absolutely fantastic achievement.  Their desire, passion and work ethic were a joy to see and they fully deserve all the congratulations they get.  Mr Morrison, the PE department and the whole school are very proud of their achievements and can't wait to see them develop in the future.