English Schools' Football Association

Filton College celebrate Trophy win

A noisy crowd of 322 turned up in the pouring rain to watch Accrington & Rossendale College (Hyndburn & Ribble Valley SFA) entertain Filton College (Bristol & South Gloucestershire SFA) in the ESFA Under 18 Colleges' Trophy Girls’ Final. Despite the weather the pitch at Accrington Stanley was in excellent condition and allowed the girls to play some attractive football.

The long journey from Bristol did not affect the girls from Filton who immediately took the initiative with some early forays in the Accrington penalty area. it was, therefore, no surprise when Connie Short latched onto a cross from Gabby Bird to fire Filton into the lead on 2 minutes. Filton continued their pressure, now in incessant rain, with Paige Stewart hitting the crossbar with a great shot. In the 17th minute Kirstie Reader in the Accrington goal could not hold onto a shot and Filton's Gabby Bird scored to make it 2-0. The Accrington defence were being hard pressed but their captain and centre half Abbie Blackett was showing her class with strong tackles and good interceptions. Reader, in the Accrington goal made amends in the 25th minute with a fine save which seemed to encouraged the rest of the team as they started to push forward into the Filton half. Rhian Pope was foiled by Abbey Evans in the Filton goal on 30 minutes. Rumer Morley followed up with a shot that went just wide.

However, it was Filton in the dying moments of the first half that moved forward strongly with a couple of strong runs just being flagged for offside before they struck the post again. Finally the pressure was rewarded with full back Nadine Grogan scoring a third for Filton. Accrington & Rossendale College 0 Filton College 3 at half time.

The second half started with the sunshining and a much better display from the girls from Accrington. This early pressure provided the Accrington girls with a life line when Jayde Clegg had a shot saved by the keeper but managed to score with the rebound 3-1. The second half was proving to be a much better game with possession and territory being shared. Filton's captain Connie Short was prompting things from midfield and had time to try a 30 metre chip which went just wide. as is always the case these days the match was interrupted by numerous substitutions which were breaking up the flow of the game, but it was still a good display be both sides. Rather against the run of play Filton produced the match winning fourth goal. Daisy Allen, following up after a good save by Kirstie Reader, put the result beyond doubt.

A great game, especially in the second half that was a tremendous advert for women's and girls’ football.

Squads

Accrington & Rossendale: Kirstie Reader (GK), Sophie Roberts, Hayley Grisdale, Amy Lucas, Abbie Blackett (C), Holly Mansfield, Ainsley Strickland, Jess Morley, Jayde Clegg, Lauran Walker, Kerry Bamford, Lauren Shead, Emily Rogers, Rumer Morley, Rhian Pope and Amber Cobb. Team Management: Chris Stammers (Head Coach); Laura Walker (Assistant Coach); Mark Fell (Curriculum Manager for Sport)

Filton College: Abby Evans (GK), Nadine Grogan, Jaz Matthews, Georgia Wallis, Ellie Isaac, Daisy Allen, Connie Short, Charlotte Jones, Sharla Passariello, Paige Stewart, Gabby Bird, Annie Martin, Jade Scammell, Hannah Churchill, Kirsten Rendall and Emily Allen.
Team Management: Mark Sampson (Head Coach); Daniel Tanhai (Assistant Coach); Lee Rendall (Coach); Steve Grinham (Goalkeeper Coach).

Match Officials
Referee: Edward Frazer (Manchester) | Assistants: Darren Daley (Levenshulme) and Nick Darby (Bolton) | Reserve: Daniel Scott (Manchester)

Photos and a DVD of the match can be purchased via www.rwt-photography.co.uk