Cambridge United beat Cambridge City in 2-0 Junior Premier League with goals from Millie Docking and Emilia Reinhardt

A goal in each half and a solid defensive display saw Cambridge United Under-18s defeat a depleted Cambridge City 2-0 in the Junior Premier League at Cambourne Village College on Saturday.

Centre-forwards Millie Docking and Emilia Reinhardt were on target for the young U’s in the local derby while Katie Watler was the pick of the defenders with a fine performance to keep the dangerous Lilywhites striker Faith Harrison at bay.

United go in to the Christmas break in second place, three points behind unbeaten Haringey, while City are still to register their first points of a challenging debut JPL season.

Winning coach Sean Greygoose said: “I think there are loads of positives to take without us being brilliant. We saw lots of really good defensive actions with players stepping in and winning the physical battle and really limiting City to two chances in 90 minutes which is impressive for any side.

“I was also really pleased with the fact that we were more on the front foot and made City defend for long spells in the game.

“Again, I felt the girls were always in control and had no doubt in the result.

“We always speak about performance over results but if you do the right thing both come hand-in-hand most the time and we saw that today. We scored a couple really good goals today both with good finishes.”

Meanwhile, reflecting on the season so far, Greygoose added: “It’s nice to finish the first part of the season with another win and clean sheet in a local derby but more so with the only defeat in the league being against the side that sits top.

“It will be a case of having some rest over Christmas before returning with a home game against West Ham United and the final part of the season. But a really positive start to the season which has been a huge group effort from the whole squad.”

Despite the scoreline, City manager Neil MacLeod was pleased with the way his side acquited themselves.

He said: “I’m extremely proud of our girls today as a number were carrying knocks or recovering from illness and due to other commitments we were missing a couple as well.”

“Once again we’ve just fallen short in this derby and as in previous meetings there really wasn’t much to separate the two sides. It’s always hard to single people out when everyone has put the effort in but I thought that Beeson, Banks and Harrison all delivered a top drawer performance today.

“We’ve had a difficult start to the season so far and due to a situation beyond our control we have been playing catch-up. The girls have demonstrated a fantastic attitude and are rarely being rewarded for their efforts.

“Unfortunately, we’ve not yet had the luxury of fielding the same team or even squad two weeks in succession. The squad is a mix of 16 and 17-year-olds in an under-18 league. Their experiences this year will undoubtedly stand them in good stead next season.”

Both teams have home games when they return on 4 January. with City playing host to She Can Play Panthers and United take on West Ham United.