U16 Girls Bow Out in Sensational Fashion!!

Today saw the emotional conclusion of our U16s Youth Journey with the tall task of competing against Penrith AFC in the Andrea Buggy U16 League Cup Final.

In what was an emotionally charged sunny afternoon at Windscale AFC it was the Whitehaven Team that started the brighter as they searched to open the scoring.

Good early pressure from Neive Thomason down the right wing made difficult work for the Penrith defence as she harried and hustled searching for mistakes. Striking starlet Libby McKee was also at the races, with so much of Whitehavens early good work coming through Libby who had a couple of half chances along with Neive narrowly missing.

However the early pressure did pay off eventually as a good sweeping move from back to front from the lionesses, saw the ball go out wide on the left to Lola Cross, who put a dangerous ball into the box which found striker Libby McKee who calmly netted to make it 1-0. The goal was a very special moment for a player who has been at the club since 6yrs old and one of the teams originals.

Striker Libby McKee in action

The Whitehaven players continued to play some dangerous play but had to also be very alert on the counter from Penrith. In particular Penriths winger, No.5 was fully of energy, strength and quality and not a player you could relax around. In what turned out to be one of the contests of the game the Penrith winger was the go to player as she tried to swing the game back in Penriths favour. Marshalling the Penrith winger was the role of Ava McCluckie who matched the physical nature of the Penrith winger but showed a lot of maturity in her defending, not being caught out by diving in, and simply timing her interventions really well and starting attacks.

Defender Ava McCluckie winning a duel!!

The game was calming now into a rhythm as the Whitehaven team started to find the pace of pitch and connecting more and more with each other. Captain Zara Robinson & Chloe Schofield started to stamp their authority on the midfield, winning first and second balls, in particular from goalkicks and it was these breakups that led to another good move which saw Chloe Schofield get down the left hand side of the Penrith defence and she crossed a ball in the air to the back post where winger Lola Cross met it first time in the air to make it 2-0.

Chances continued to flow now, with Lola Cross having a growing influence on the game and when Layla Johnston come on she added further energy to the Whitehaven team as she pressed and squeezed on the Penrith players. The pressure seemed to have told and the supporters thought the Whitehaven team had went 3-0 up. After winning a corner, Lola Cross delivered a magnificent ball into the area which ended in the back of the net. It wasn’t clear if a foul had been given or the ball had went out of play direct from the corner, but the goal was disallowed and the game remained 2-0.

Layla Johnston shows off her physical prowess!!

Into the second half and as expected the Penrith team looked to get back into the game and cause some issues for the Whitehaven girls as they went direct and tried to search for a mistake or 50/50 ball win. A great battled developed between a couple of the Penrith attackers and central defender Antalya Webster who was not shy on showing her strength as both her and the Penrith striker battled fiercely but fair as both seemed to be enjoying the contest against each other.

As the game seemed to be heading for a Whitehaven win, as often happens so many times, jeopardy intervened as one of the Penrith direct balls did open up the Whitehaven defence, and with pressure on the Penrith striker as she came through 1v1 with the on rushing goalkeeper Annie Jackman who’d had a good game, could do nothing as the striker calmly punched the ball into the bottom corner.

Annie Jackman starts an attack for the team!!

The Whitehaven team could be forgiven for maybe feeling a bit nervous now and holding onto the 2-1 score. However it was the opposite as the Whitehaven team seemed to draw strength in adversity and set about finding a third. After making a number of good situations not count, the Whitehaven girls did find the third goal and what would prove the winner in unbelievable fashion. After the defence thwarted a Penrith attack, the ball was played into Lola Cross who took it down and headed centrally towards the Penrith defence with menace. She composed herself and before any player could reach her she unleashed a thunderbolt of a strike from around 24 yards out that the Penrith keeper could only attempt to save but even with two keepers it would’ve been impossible.

With the score now 3-1 the girls could’ve found a forth as the game become very open, with chances for both teams. In particular Annabelle Weaver who when on in the first half was pulling the strings with some very neat play in midfield, was now operating as a striker and once again was bringing her team mates into play and created 2-3 opportunities for herself which she was unlucky not to grab a forth for the team.

Annabelle Weaver pulling strings in midfield!

The game came to a close as the Whitehaven girls completed their youth journeys before heading to the senior set up in perfect fashion and crowned Andrea Buggy League Cup Champions for the second year in a row, winning 3-1.

After the game Coach Carl Robinson said “It’s a perfect way to end today, I couldn’t of asked for more from the players. I think they battled well, stuck together as a team and scored three very good goals to win it, whilst defending well, the whole team can be very proud. We have some girls who have been with us for 10yrs and it’s very emotional for them with their journey at youth coming to an end, but equally the players who have joined us over the years are equally as emotional and have made a big difference to the team. Whilst their youth journey is now complete, it’s not the end of their football at Whitehaven with many of them already involved in the Senior set up and doing well, and more of them starting that new chapter in the coming weeks and months.”