Ryelands goal machine triumph in girls football competition
Annual 6-a-side football for years 5 and 6
Lancaster City Council held their annual year 5 and 6 girls 6-a-side football competition on Monday, 18 May 2009 at Salt Ayre Sports Centre.
With 21 teams entering from 16 local primary schools the competition was split into four groups. The early stages of the group competition saw some superb football skills as the spectators watched on.
The top two teams from each group progressed through to the quarter finals. Throughout the competition all the teams showed some superb football skills, making it hard to pick out a clear winner. Greatwood A, Trumacar, Ryelands A and Cockerham all qualified for the quarter finals, with Cockerham doing very well by being the only team to win all their group games and not concede a single goal!
The quarter final line up was as follows: Greatwood A v Moorside A, Trumacar v St. Bernadette’s, Cockerham v St.Peter’s and Ryelands A v Slyne A. There were some shocks in store in the quarter finals with St. Bernadette’s beating a good footballing team from Trumacar and Cockerham lost their quarter final 3 – 0 to St. Peter’s A.
The semi final saw Greatwood A v St. Bernadette’s and St. Peter’s A v Ryelands A. It was obvious that these were going to be very hard fought even contests from the start. Neither semi final disappointed. As the volume of the spectators got louder, the football on the pitch got better. In the first semi final a strong St. Peter’s A team played an inspired Ryelands A team that seemed to be getting better the further they progressed. The two teams played a very good game but the Ryelands goal machine continued with a couple of late goals securing a place in the final beating St. Peter’s 3 – 1. In the second semi final Greatwood A proved too strong for a tired looking St. Bernadette’s team and strolled through to the final 3 – 0.
In the final, Greatwood A and Ryelands A competed in what was to prove a very dramatic closely fought contest. Both sides having chances early on, but it was from a Greatwood A counter attack that they scored their first goal. This goal was closely followed by a second and with only a couple of minutes left to play Ryelands looked beaten. Ryelands never dropped their heads and thanks to some encouragement from their Head Coach, Mr Hyde, they managed to get a goal back and with only one minute left they equalised, taking the final into extra time. Extra time was played on a golden goal basis, the first team to score wins. After their inspired comeback, Ryelands seized their opportunity and in the first minute of extra time ran through Greatwood’s defence and scored the winning goal!
All the players from both the winners, Ryelands and runners up, Greatwood received a medal and trophy with Ryelands receiving the trophy that they will keep for one year.
All the teams that took part played the competition in the spirit in which it was intended, with the main aims being fair play, fun, enjoyment and participation. They all the received a medal for their afternoon’s efforts.
Date Published: 08/06/09