16 Girls that will represent the North of England in the ESFA’s Girls U15 England squad trials in November have been announced
Following last Sunday’s trials at Harrogate Town FC, sixteen girls have
been named by the ESFA regional selectors as representatives for the North of
the country.
Congratulations to the following girls:
Name
County
Grace Pilling
Lancashire
Francesca Hackett
Durham
Francesca Sarsfield
Lancashire
Kiera Skelton
Durham
Jessica Simpson
Lancashire
Lilly Mae Phipps
Durham
Bethany Strutton
Lancashire
Isabelle Wade
Greater Manchester
Tori Almond
Northumberland
Katie Oakley
Cheshire
Alicia Barnett
Greater Manchester
Holly Deering
Greater Manchester
Rebecca Ferguson
Northumberland
Francesca Ward
Cleveland
Poppy Pritchard
Northumberland
Amara Keeting
Greater Manchester
Megan Sofield
Lancashire
The announcement comes ahead of this season’s North v Midland regional
trials for the ESFA’s U15 Girls’ England squad, which are due to be held at
Stafford Town FC on Sunday 10 November.
The best players from the North and Midlands squads will be selected during
the trial on 10 November which will create this season’s “ËœNorthern’ squad. The
same process will take place in the South of England where the best players
from the South East and South West will play against each other at Thatcham
Town FC, also on the 10 November, to create this season’s “ËœSouthern’ squad.
These two regional teams will then play each other on 15 December 2019,
when the official squad will be selected for International Schools’ Football
duty.
For the fourth year this competition was
held at Lilleshall Hall National Sports Centre, Shropshire, providing excellent
accommodation and facilities for the four schools taking part. The competing schools were:
Shenfield High School (England), Carndonagh
Community School (Republic of Ireland), Ysgol Glan Clwyd (Wales) and Crompton
House CofE School (England).
The Irish girls were first to arrive after an early flight
from Belfast and the pronouncement, “ËœIt’s a castle,’ certainly showed their
approval. A tour of the grounds sampling
the outdoor vines on the way certainly impressed. By 1:30 all teams were in attendance and
ready to start the first series of games.
Crompton House took the lead in the first game but it was
short lived as Carndonagh replied within a minute. The English girls scored again in the 16th
minute but were unable to hold the lead for long as Carndonagh equalised again
three minutes before half time. The
Irish girls gradually took a hold on the match early in the second half and a
further goal four minutes from time saw them worthy winners.
The second game between Shenfield and Glan Clwyd was also a
closely contested affair. Shenfield went
ahead shortly before half time only to see the determined girls of Glan Clwyd
pull one back shortly after the restart.
It was end to end with both defences and goalkeepers working hard until
Shenfield eventually broke the deadlock with just three minutes to go. Two excellent games to start the competition!
For day two we had been promised a deluge by the weather
forecasters so it was a pleasant surprise to see the sun beaming down. Shenfield v Carndonagh in the first game
promised to be a tight contest but the edge was slightly taken off the game
when Abbie Harding, the Shenfield “Ëœkeeper, injured her hand in the warm up and
had to be replaced by reluctant volunteer, Amye Swinney. Whilst the Shenfield girls were coming to terms
with their reorganisation Carndonagh took full advantage and raced to a two
goal lead within four minutes but were competently held at bay for the rest of
the half. The second half started in the
same way as the first, two further goals in four minutes! Shenfield determinedly battled on and Amye
put in a brave performance but were unable to penetrate the Irish defence.
The game between Glan Clwyd and Crompton House was a much
closer contest. Glan Clwyd opened the
scoring in the 21st minute only to see an equaliser scored on the
stroke of half time. The two teams gave
their all in search of a second goal and the match seemed destined for a draw
until Cora Belle broke clear to hit the back of the net with minutes to go.
Both games on day 3 kicked off at the same time with
Carndonagh only needing a draw to win the competition for Ireland. Shenfield and Crompton House each needed to
win to share the Championship should Glan Clwyd grab the points in their
game. Tense stuff.
Crompton House took the lead in the 10th minute
only for Shenfield to pull back before half time. The girls from Essex then went on to score
two more in the second half ensuring they finished in fine form. Glan Clwyd were showing real determination
against a strong display from Carndonagh who finally cracked the defence just
on the break to take a half time lead.
The girls in green went further ahead shortly after the restart but were
pegged back following a flowing move which put Megan Galeandro through to
finish in style. The game was finally
put to bed when goal scoring machine Ailish Doherty scored her sixth of the
competition.
At the presentation ceremony following the conclusion of the
competition, SAFIB Executive Committee member Mr Alex Harkin congratulated all
of the girls on their skills and determination to do their best for their
schools. He mentioned that every player
should be proud that they had not only represented their school but also their
country. It was with great pride that he
was able to present the Rod Houston Cup to Carndonagh Community School.
The Nigel Brown Award for the player of the tournament was
once again presented by Carol Brown, Nigel’s widow. There were a number of players in
consideration; Ellie Long had been outstanding for Cardonagh and Ailish Doherty
had scored in every game, Elise Jennings had been influential throughout and
Amye Swinney, as stand in goalkeeper for two games, had helped Shenfield
considerably. Cora Belle, Crompton
House, had continuously caused problems for opposition defences but the judges
eventually decided upon the bravery and acrobatic skills of Cardi Doran in the
Glan Clwyd goal as being an outstanding feature of the tournament.
Once again this competition for U14 girls has proved to be a
success where football, friendship and appreciation of others efforts have come
to the fore. Looking forward to next
year”¦