Bronze for our Girls’ Football Team at Alleyns Tournament
A squad of 9 of Honeywell’s footballers headed over to Alleyns to play in their annual girl’s tournament. They were delighted the waterlogged pitches had drained from the day before and were looking forward to testing themselves against some very strong teams in the 7 aside format with 6 minutes each way.
It was Alleyns that were first up for Honeywell and it took our girls a few minutes to really get stuck in. Honeywell conceded two early goals but the match progressed they got used to the pace of the game but couldn't do enough to close the deficit.
It was then straight into the second group match against a big Oakfield side. But the Honeywell combinations began to click and with some great work from Alex, Stephanie and Ellana, Nicole picked the ball up on the edge of the box and fired in the only goal of the match to see Honeywell record a 1-0 win!
With barely a minute to get their breath back, we were back into the action this time against a skillful team from Dolphin. Honeywell were a little unfortunate to find themselves a goal down at half time but really stepped up in the second half and Ellana's determination was rewarded with an equaliser. As the game started to draw to a conclusion there were some nail biting moments but a hugely robust defensive effort from Emily, Ella and Safia kept Dolphin at bay until Dana was called on to pull off a great save to end the match 1-1.
That left everything still to play for in the final group match which was a 'must win' against Heath House who had one stand out player. Nicole was given the job of marking their star player and she stuck dutifully to her detail which meant Heath House never built up any momentum. With our younger year 5 players growing in confidence, Honeywell was starting to dominate with full backs Safia and Ella working their way down the wings in the knowledge that we had Emily, stopping any Heath House attacks. Alex and Stephanie were also keeping up a high tempo in midfield and the pressure had to tell with Nicole striking a cracking shot to make it 1-0. Just a few minutes later Jildez put the game beyond doubt with a real poacher's goal, sliding in to the box to toe punt into the corner.
The scoreline was enough to see Honeywell into the semis where they met a very talented Blackheath team. Again, despite some excellent saves from Dana, the Maroons found themselves 1-0 down. But their heads didn't drop and Stephanie was on hand to turn in a stunning cross from Nicole. 1-1 and it was game on. As the match ebbed and flowed it seemed destined to go to penalties but then in the final seconds Blackheath managed to nick a goal which was a cruel way for Honeywell to end their time in the tournament.
Finishing an incredibly respectable (joint) 3rd place with Dolphin School, the girls should be very proud of themselves with a tournament performance to build on.
