Saturday 14th April 2018 @ St. George’s Park, Burton

English Schools’ FA – Premier League Cup – Midlands Round

Team: Madison, Millie, Sami, Lacy, Savannah, Tiana, Liberty, Javeigh, Octavia, Rihanna and Latia

Results:

D 0-0 vs. South Birmingham

W 2-0 vs. Kings Norton

W 5-0 vs. Corby

W 1-0 vs. Telford

D 0-0 vs. Sutton Coldfield

Scorers: Latia x 6, Octavia and Savannah

Girl of the Match: On a day like today it doesn’t seem right to pick one girl out for additional praise! Well done team!

David Beckham has a pitch named after him at St. George’s Park. The likes of Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford train there on a regular basis. Brum’s very own Eniola Aluko and Karen Carney have been put through their paces there on many an occasion. Now you can add the ESPSFA class of 2018 to this long and illustrious list of talented St. George’s Park residents!

In a season when the girls have repeatedly ripped up the history books, they matched a feat achieved by the lads in 2016 by being crowned ESFA Midlands Champions and in doing so, qualifying for the national finals later in the season! Furthermore, their unbeaten record and ability to keep five clean sheets from five games means they have now won four trophies in this historic season.

The day started with Ton panicking and nervously looking over his shoulder as the clock ticked down to kick-off and his team sheet was minus three players. Fortunately for him, as the first game kicked off, he had nine girls on the pitch and was able to relax slightly. Understandably the girls were a little unsettled going into their opening encounter, but managed to regroup and put in an admirable performance against 2017/18 rivals South Birmingham. Despite having a goal ruled out by the ref, the girls were more than happy with their opening performance.

Enter stage right – Octavia and Rihanna. With the team now up to 11 players, the girls were able to move into fifth gear and pick up a trio of great victories in succession.

A 2-0 victory over fellow Brummie district Kings Norton put the girls in first place after two games, a position they held onto for the rest of the day.

With the opening two games yielding four points, it was the defensive stability of Sami, Millie and Savannah that was gaining admiring glances from many a spectator. The defensive trio were proving an immovable object in their first ever 9-a-side game, although they also had a lot of support from recent recruit Madison, who has slotted between the sticks as if she has been there all season!

Our third game saw a deluge of goals for The Ton girls, with Latia continuing her fine season in front of goal to bag herself four goals as the girls cruised to a 5-0 victory.

Despite their excellent start to the tournament, the girls knew tough challenges awaited in the form of the unbeaten Sutton Coldfield and swashbuckling Telford and Wreakin. The latter were their fourth opponents and a Latia goal was enough to earn the girls a vital three points against one of the tournament favourites. In fact, these three points were enough to hand the title to the girls and with it, another piece of history!

With the title in the bag, the girls shuffled their pack for their final game of the day against near-neighbours Sutton Coldfield. Despite the changes made, the girls picked up their fifth clean sheet in their firth game, to end the day with the kind of defensive record that would be the envy of any famous Italian team!

There isn’t much more that can be said about these fabulous girls! From captain Liberty in the centre of the park, to the marauding Rihanna out wide and the tenacious Millie in defence, each one of the girls gave everything that they had to offer today. They played some excellent football and proved that hard work really does pay off.

The girls now move on to the national finals in Liverpool on June 9th, 2018.

In 2016, The Ton boys visited Manchester in the same stage of this competition, only to see torrential rain wash away their dreams of national glory. However, this group of girls have made their own history all season and even the stormiest of downpours wouldn’y be enough to wash away the feelgood factor surrounding them right now!

Well done girls!

Up The Ton!