It was a historic day on Monday 13 March as our senior girls’ footballers played their first ever Football Night Lights fixture! Taking on Salesian College on their patch, the girls represented the College incredibly with both matches played out with high and competitive spirits.
The College fielded two, 9-a-side teams for the event and despite the weather, both matches saw a high standard of attacking football. Below are the reports from each respective team.
Girls’ U18A vs Salesian College
On Monday 13 March, Shiplake College took two teams of 9 girls to Salesian school for the first ever girls’ Football Night Lights fixture. The first team had an amazing start to play, backed by an amazing defence from E Morris, I Wood and L Schoenmakers. The girls fought hard for the ball and in the first half, had the majority of possession and kept the ball in the attacking half. L Schoenmakers and E Dickson in goal worked well together, with E Dickson saving many shots on goal and L Schoenmakers taking over to do some amazing goal kicks, getting the ball up the pitch and allowing the strikers to have a go at shooting.
At half time the score was 0-0, with the girls' spirits still high. In the second half, there was some fantastic play from S Di Cuffa who constantly attacked the opposition to tackle and gain possession. Salesian managed to score in the second half (despite a hand ball not being called) and the game ended at a 1-0 score. However, the Shiplake girls kept their heads high throughout the match and even though they picked up a few injuries, they enjoyed the match and had fun! Player of the Match went to L Schoenmakers.
Report: T Firth, Football Captain
Girls’ U18Bs vs Salesian College
The girls’ U18B team footballers started the match strongly in the first half of the game, with S Reid scoring the first goal. There was also outstanding defence from A Baiden and O Parkin. Half time came with the game in the balance at 1-1, and all the girls continued to persevere, passing excellent balls and maintaining confidence. This led to S Goggins scoring our second goal.
Salesian managed to score another goal in the second half, making the final score 2-2. The game then went to penalties which saw G Weedon’s excellent performance in goal, saving two of Salesian’s shots. A Townsend scored the winning penalty – leaving the final score 3-1 on penalties. It was an outstanding effort from all the girls, and it was an enjoyable match and a great way to end to the season!
Report: S Goggins, B Team Captain
Speaking after the event, Head of Girls’ Sport Mrs Lovelock said:
‘The first ever girls' Football Night Lights on Monday was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to get together as a house to play sport and demonstrate their skills learnt from this football season. It has been a tough, but fun season, with the girls playing friendly matches against local schools. The competition has been hard. but the girls have kept calm, demonstrated brilliant team spirit, and enjoyed every game. It is great to have events on such as the Girls' Football Night Lights to help highlight the importance of equality within all sports and genders, and the girls have the chance to represent their school within a sport, to work as a team, and to inspire others to try a new sport.’
Well done to everyone who got involved and thank you to the coaches, Mrs Lovelock, Mrs Neill, Miss James, and Mr Cooper for their support and encouragement throughout the season!