Under 11 Performance Squad vs Woking Football Club

JPL Warriors Cup U12 Group 5

The girls' final game of the Cup and it was fantastic to come away not only with our first win but also enough goal difference to place third in our group; with the top 2 teams both heading into the Premier divisions of the JPL Warriors! An absolutely brilliant start for the girls playing JPL Warriors, a year up, for the first time this season.

The weather was a challenge today with blustery wind making the movement of the ball quite unpredictable, but we started well with a free kick from Lolly finding the back of the net followed quickly by a goal from Caitlyn 3 minutes later – a short lapse in concentration saw Woking get one back but finishing the first quarter 2-1 up was a great start.

The second quarter started well with Elsie’s well taken goal just 2 minutes in, but we then struggled to find the net again despite a few opportunities and perhaps weren’t quite using as much of the width of the pitch to create space as we needed too. A solid performance at the back though meant we got to half time 3-1 up.

Heading into the third quarter, the change of ends meant we had to play into the wind and while that meant Woking’s long goal kicks made it well into our half, it also allowed us to hold the ball up much better and we definitely stepped up our attacking threat with Ruby and Lily both scoring to make it 5-1 heading into the final quarter.

The final quarter saw plenty of action at both ends! Caitlyn scored her second and then a slightly crazy two minutes saw Woking get two back in quick succession, but the girls dealt with it well and remained calm. Woking got a third two minutes before the end of the game but a handball in their area gave Nyla the opportunity to calmly score a penalty in the final minute to end the game with a 7-4 win.

A well-deserved win for the girls today and hopefully this will give them the confidence that they can go toe-to-toe with a much bigger, stronger team and by battling hard and playing quality football they can still come away with a win! A great end to the Cup before we head into the league games next week!

Today, Lolly was outstanding! As left back in the first quarter you scored a great free kick and then assisted our second goal too! Playing centre back for the rest of the game is not your favourite position but you remained calm, controlled and distributed the ball well. An absolute rock at the back today helping us towards our well-deserved win!