Newton Aycliffe Youth FC Under 13 Girls travelled to The Blackpool Tournament last weekend and performed brilliantly to reach the Semi-Final stage after five Group games.
Game 1 was against York Railway Institute and after taking and eraly lead the girls looked comfortable only to concede two goals late on. A disappointing start!
Game 2 pitched us against North East rivals Lumley Ladies’ who defeated us recently in the league Final. Whatever was said to the girls’ before this game was great coaching. We simply played them off the park, preventing their dangerous wingers from making inroads. Two sublime finishes and some heroic goalkeeping ensured we gained some revenge as we bagged the 3pts.
Game 3 v Morpeth. With our confidence high we surged onto beat our opponents 2-0. 6pts from 2 games.
Game 4 saw us play Myersclough College from Preston. After a long day the girls’ tired but kept going to record another 2-0 win leaving us sitting at the top of the group on 9pts.
So after Day 1, three wins and a defeat. Sunday saw our final Group game as we faced a formidable Manchester Girls’ FC side who had not conceded a goal as of yet. The girls’ only went and put two past them in a one-sided first half! Game of two halves they say, so it turned out as somehow we allowed them to snatch a draw. 2-2.
So, after finishing third in the Group we found ourselves in the Semi-Final against the very, very strong Blackpool Girls’ FC. By now the wind was horrendous – and the host town club seized on our tired legs to defeat us 3-0 and progress to the final. A great effort by our Girls’ who did NAYFC proud.