Seaside Tournament (Warriors)

What a great day for Woodbank Girls. Both our Wanderers and Warriors were on form today and certainly put Woodbank Girls on the map.

My team for the day (Warriors). All of our nine established Warriors together with Shellie (ex Warrior) and Gemma (Sale Utd Superstar). Our girls are used to 7 a side so the size of the pitch together with full size nets took us by surprise. Fi looked very worried!! She was almost lost with the size of the nets. However the fitness of our players and their skill gave us a big advantage and our players relished the extra space.

The first match was against Preston North End. They finished high in the Lancashire league this season and have been playing 9 a side all season. The first half saw them go 2 nil up quite quickly before our Warriors found their rhythm. The second half was dominated by the Warriors. A sweeping move from one end of the pitch via Sophie, through to Gemma and finally to Emily, who calmly wrong footed the goalie before scoring from a tight angle, saw us score one of the best goals of this season. Another move saw Hannah go close after a one-on-one with the goalie. This match finally finished 2 – 1 but in the second half we were the best team.
Our second match again saw us dominate the match but without getting the ball into the back of the net.
Two games to go and two wins needed.
Our third match was against Radcliffe Girls. A certain amount of pride at stake and our Warriors finally found their feet. All of the action was in the Radcliffe half of the pitch. Our pressure told with a superbly taken goal by Emily which gave us victory. The Warriors left the field to jubilant cheers from the crowd. Great team performance. Victory over Radcliffe was worth the trip to Cleveleys!!!
A win in our last league game would ensure entry into the last four (out of twelve teams) and into the semi final for the main Cup.
Bring on Paris Girls. To say we annihilated this team would be an underestimation. This was one of the best displays of football I have seen all season. Preston North End and Thornton Cleveleys were watching from the sides and they all passed comment about the quality of play. We won 3 – 0 with two more superb goals from Emily and a cracker from Hannah. It could have been more. The team left the field as if they had won the World Cup. I brimmed with pride. Two wins, one draw and a close defeat by Preston.

Our Semi Final was against St Annes YMCA. They proved to be a well organised team and quickly took advantage by sneaking a goal in the first few minutes. Our girls fought hard but could find the form which they displayed in the previous two matches. I think we peeked too early today and on another day we could easily have beaten this team. Preston North End won the final.

There were some great individual performances today but was more evident was the amazing team spirit within both our Wanderers and Warriors.
Fi, Anna, Beth, Meg, Bronya, Shellie, Emily, Hannah, Gemma, Sophie and Megan F, I was proud of you all today. The wins over Radcliffe Girls and Paris Girls were amazing.
Thanks again to Shellie and Gemma for playing today. I hope you enjoyed. I certainly did and I am sure all of the parents present did.

Well done Wanderers on winning the plate. Great Weekend for Woodbank Girls.
See you at training on Friday.