Milton side victorious in South Cambridgeshire School Sports Partnership round of ESFA Under-11 Girls Pokemon Cup
Inspired by the success of the Lionesses this summer, more than 100 girls from 11 schools took to the football pitches at Histon & Impington Recreation Ground last week for the district round of the national ESFA U11 Girls Pokémon Cup.
The teams of Year 5/6 girls from across South Cambs School Sports Partnership were split into two groups of six teams for the competition, where they played each other in a round robin format.
At the end of the group matches there were play-off matches for every team to determine their overall finishing position in the competition, as well as semi-finals for the top two placed teams in both pools.
Milton won Group 1 with five wins from five matches, scoring 18 goals and only conceding just one, so they went into the semi-final full of confidence against the team from Trumpington Park who had finished runners-up in their group with three wins, one draw and a single loss.
It was a closely-contested match that ended goalless and went to a penalty shootout, with Milton triumphing 3-2 from the spot.
The other semi-final was between Group 2 winners Cottenham, who had won all five of their pool matches without conceding a goal, and local rivals Histon & Impington Brook. Cottenham had a lot of possession but the girls from Histon scored the crucial goal to take a 1-0 victory and claim their place in the final.
Milton went into the final as favourites having beaten Histon Brook 2-1 in the group stage and they edged the fixture again, this time by a 1-0 margin to be crowned champions, with both teams going through to represent South Cambridgeshire at the county finals in January.
As well as medals for the winners and runners-up, all of the teams received certificates and there was a ‘Spirit of the Games Award’ which was presented to the team from The Meadow Primary School for showing great teamwork and respect while taking part in their first girls’ football competition.
Partnership manager, Claire McDonnell, said: “It was lovely to see so many girls coming together, representing their school and getting to compete against others in a fun and friendly environment. We must say a big thank you to the sports leaders from Impington Village College who helped to referee and score all of the matches on the day as well as run the score table, they did a very professional job and were great role models for the young children.”
South Cambs School Sport Partnership is part of a nationwide scheme that aims to mainstream football in school for girls with the vision to ensure every girl has equal access to football in school by 2024. To find out more visit www.girlsfootballinschools.org
McDonnell added: “Football is our national sport and we want to make sure girls have the same opportunities to play football that boys do. We want girls to be able to play in events like today and as well as being able to play at lunchtimes, after school and at local clubs. They should have the same opportunities as boys but unfortunately this isn’t always the case.”
