Courtesy: This is Cornwall


LISKEARD GIRLS WIN U16 COUNTY FUTSAL TITLE

After an impressive run so far in the County 11-a-side league Liskeard Girls U16s went in to the five-a-side Futsal Championships in good form despite not having much time to practice this format of the game in the run up to the County Championship.

The competition was a one day tournament which would see Liskeard having to get the better of five other teams if they wanted to lift the cup. The day started with the group stage in which Liskeard's first game was set to be a tough one against Penzance and after an early morning trip down to Camborne Liskeard hadn't quite woken up for this one and were made to pay for it as they lost their first game.

This game, however, was to be the wake up call the girls needed as they kept a clean sheet and picked up a point against Charlestown Reds. They kept on getting better and better and in the next game they took the lead against tournament favourites Truro Whites thanks to a great Lisa Pearce strike. But they conceded a sucker punch goal in the closing moments to draw the game, 1-1.

Despite the upturn in performance Liskeard still had it all to do as they needed two wins in their last two games to guarantee a place in the semi-finals. With all the pressure on Liskeard took this moment to play their best football of the day with two of the best games of the day, first beating another Truro team 3-0 with cracking goals from Chloe Williams and Sophie Woodhouse.

Liskeard then repeated this feat again with another emphatic victory against Charlestown Yellows with more spectacular goals from Lisa Pearce and Sophie Woodhouse to clinch second spot at the end of the group stages.

Liskeard's semi-final against Charlestown Reds showed real grit and hard work as Amber Jeffery and Rosie Gibson worked their socks off for the team and it was their hard work which helped Liskeard over the line with a 1-0 win thanks to another Chloe Williams goal. This set up a final against pre tournament favourites Truro Whites who had won this competition for the previous two seasons.

In the opening moments of the final Liskeard had to be very thankful to Beth Spear playing at the back as the lone defender as she cut out many Truro attacks and to Sophie Woodhouse who had gone in goal for the game as she pulled off some outstanding saves to keep Liskeard in the game. Truro's pressure eventually told and they took a 1-0 lead and after a few moments to clear their heads Liskeard then really started to put the pressure back on Truro. Emily Rogers, playing up front, was putting great pressure on the Truro defence and Liskeard's hard work was rewarded with a penalty as a Truro defender handled inside the area. Lisa Pearce slammed the ball home for Liskeard to put them back on level terms and that is the way it remained until full time. This meant dreaded extra time but after equalising late on in the game Liskeard's tales were up as they had wave after wave of attack and corner after corner and finally with 14 seconds left to go Lisa Pearce managed to get to the ball first before the Truro defence and slotted the ball in the bottom corner to complete a historical day as Liskeard Girls won the County Cup.

Liskeard will now progress to the Regional stage of the competition as Cornwall's representative later this year. The club are still on the lookout for more talented girls to join the U16 team so if you are in year 10 or 11 and would like to join please phone Ian Woodhouse on 07815860630 or for more information on Liskeard Girls FC log on to www.liskeardgirlsfc.com




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com