Year 3/4 & 5/6 Girls Football

Early sporting success for The Downs!

 A beautiful day of glorious sunshine was a fitting background for a day of Girls’ football at Mark Hall. With the organisers opting for larger pitches, in an attempt to reduce crowding the ball, the early starters in Years 3 and 4 set the tone for a day of smiles, laughter and great enjoyment.

With 14 teams arriving for the morning event, Fawbert and Barnard graciously split their players to create an extra team (a third team!) which really helped the group numbers and schedule. With 10 matches scheduled, the morning ran really smoothly, with the football punctuated frequently with squeals of delight with the various personal achievements – these ranged from kicking the ball, making a tackle, completing a save and triumphing against the odds. It is always a real privilege to be involved with these events; the players have little preconceptions or negative experiences to follow and the staff are always on hand with great encouragement and support.

The 15 teams competing were:

Holy Cross x 2, The Downs x 2, Fawbert and Barnard x 3, St Nicholas, Tanys Dell, St Albans, St Lukes, Freshwaters, Little Parndon, Cooks Spinney and Church Langley

Our thanks were given to the staff that helped to officiate throughout the morning. It was a great event – well done Girls.

If the weather was fair in the morning, it was glorious for the afternoon’s older girl’s event. The Year 5/6 Girls event mirrored the morning fixtures, with 15 teams competing across 3 groups. The difference being that as we are required to produce a County Finalist the competition was on to take home the Winner’s Trophy.

The opening rounds saw the girls adapt to the large spaces; some found the extra time baring down on goal too much to handle, often shooting wide when eventually reaching the keeper. Once the girls realised that passing the ball was more efficient than constantly chasing it, the standard improved and the 3 groups finished as follows:

Group 1

Cooks Spinney – 10 points

Nazeing – 10 points

Fawbert and Barnard A – 7 points

Fawbert and Barnard B – 7 points

St Albans – 6 points

Group 2

The Downs B – 11 points

Purford Green – 9 points

Little Parndon – 9 points

St Lukes – 7 points

The Downs A – 4 points

Group 3

Tanys Dell – 12 points

Church Langley A – 8 points

St Nicholas – 8points

Church Langley B – 7 points

Potter Street – 5 points

The semi-finals were contested between Nazeing and Tanys Dell; The Downs B and Cooks Spinney. Both games were full of excitement, with the ball travelling end to end continuously. Tanys Dell (who won 3-0) eventually played The Downs (1-0 winners) in the Final match. Again the final was exciting, with the Tanys Dell keeper making a fantastic save as Molly from the Downs looked to secure the trophy; the game ended nil-nil and both teams shared the trophy. Nazeing and Cooks Spinney also finished 0-0 in the 3rd/ 4thplay-off.

Thanks again were given to all the fantastic supporters and school staff who helped to make the event such a positive experience.