Saturday 22nd December 2018 @ Aston Villa Academy, Villa Park
BPSFA Winter Shield
Gold Team: Rihanna, Monir, Savannah, Millie, Keeley, La’tia, Shay-Leigh and Kayla
Goals: La’tia x 4, Savannah x 3 and Millie
Black Team: Jess, Rosie, Amne, Damilola, Ashante, Kaira, Megan, Keira and Remaya
Goals: Kiera and Rumaya
To say it’s been a memorable 2018 for the girls of Erdington and Saltley is an understatement on the same scale of saying turkeys are indifferent about Christmas!
2018 has been packed full of amazing achievements for our incredibly talented girls! What started in January with them lifting the Eniola Aluko Shield ended in December with the girls holding aloft the BPSFA Winter Shield – their eighth title in twelve months!
The group stages of the BPSFA Winter Shield was a resounding success for both teams, with the Gold team topping their table with a 100% record and a trio of victories and the Black team qualifying from their group in dramatic fashion.
After beating Aston in a closely fought derby game, the Gold team went on to find their shooting boots as they fired three unanswered goals past Sutton Coldfield courtesy of a La’tia hat trick. A further victory against Kings Norton saw the Gold team cruise into the semi-final stage without conceding a goal.
Like their Gold counterparts, the Black team squared up against Aston in their opening game of the night, although this time it was the Aston girls who came out on top. The Black team, who are all in either year 4 or 5, bounced back from their defeat to claim a moral boosting draw against a strong Kings Norton B side. Better was still to come when they defeated Kings Norton A in their final group fixture, leaving them in second place and through to the knock-out stage…or so they thought! With four points and the same number of goals, Aston were level with our girls in every measurable way!
A tense playoff game saw the girls from B24 progress through to the semi-final and an all-Erdington and Saltley derby!
The Gold team continued in the fashion they left off against Sutton Coldfield, scoring four against their district teammates and grabbing a place in the final. Despite the scoreline, the girls in black ended the night with plenty of reasons to be proud!
Just as they had done in the final of the BPSFA Autumn Shield, the girls met Sutton Coldfield in the final in what turned out to be a much closer game than the group fixture earlier in the night. After conceding their first goal of the night, the girls dug deep and levelled through captain La’Tia. As the game ended 1-1, penalties were required to decide the winner. The score was level following the first two spot kicks, leaving La’tia to tuck away the third to give the girls the lead. This left Monir the chance to be the hero, a challenge she duly accepted as she dived to save Sutton’s third kick!
Each member of the team was incredible on the night and they played as a united team from start to finish. These girls have given us much to be proud over over the last 18 months and the next six months promise to bring much more to be proud of!
Wild celebrations followed as the girls lifted the shield above their heads to bring the curtain down on the most historic of seasons!
Well done girls!
Up The Ton!
Erdington and Saltley Primary Schools' FA 