The Under 11 girls travelled to their debut tournament at Darlington Spraire and all returned with well deserved runners-up trophies. The afternoon started with a tough group stage but goals from Faith, Brooke and Hattie and some great keeping from Alisha give us 2 wins, a draw and a defeat which marched us to the semi-final.
Boro Rangers, who had beat the girls 2-1 earlier were standing between them and a final. Aycliffe were quickly on top as Macy dominated the midfield and Ocean Tia was finding space out wide, then a trip on Hattie, up she stepped and from 30 yards, beat the wall, the defence and the keeper to find the top corner, a wonder goal giving us a deserved lead. Boro Rangers now stepped up their game, but found it difficult to get passed a solid pairing of Emily and Chloe backed up by Faith who had now returned to her normal keeper position. Another goal was needed and it started with Macy who found Hattie out wide, she cut inside 2 defenders and hit an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner. Our final place was secure to take on local rivals Bishop Auckland Girls. The girls had to defend for long periods of the game and Keira and Neve gave their all stopping several attacks but every girl played their part. However the baggies proved too strong on the day to take the winners trophy.
