MK City Tournament
U18 Lionesses win the MK City FC Tournament 5th June 2016!
Well done to all the squad!
Kempston
Squad: Charlie, Leanne, Chloe A, Millie, Micky, Grace, Emily, Carrie, Alice, Amy, Casey, Georgie, Molly, Madison
This was it! Our unbeaten record! Our double treble! Our pride! Everything we had worked for so far, all on the line, on this boiling hot day!
Kempston were always going to be dangerous, they had nothing to loose this may have been there last ever u18 game (in the nicest kind of way) and so it was to prove They had done there homework and they changed their tactics to pushing us and pressing us! Catching us frustratingly offside. Giving us no room or space. 11 Kempston players were ready to give their all one last time against us. They did, all credit to them for having 11v11.
Coach Pat was stuck in Portugal working with no way home! (Upset & frustrated are words that came to mind.) But hey! Coach Steve, Ross & Joe had been in this position before & knew they could handle things.
The squad looked strong with 14 options available, with the hot weather all the players would be needed.
Kempston charged forward wave after wave in the first 15 mins and nearly broke through our mighty back four of Chloe A, Millie, Micky & Grace, who had been our rock all season! Alice started in front of the back four and worked hard.
It took 19 mins and a set piece of a corner to get a break through and not to disappoint Millie pops up with a trademark header 0-1
Next Emily gets a ball right in the face and is off with a nose bleed! You could not write it!!!
Hard work at both ends and the half ends at only 0-1. They look the happier of the teams, their homework was working! As their back line kept pushing up and catching us offside!!
HALF TIME 0-1 , all to play for!
Lucky break early in the second half gets Casey a nice goal slotting it passed the on rushing keeper. 0-2
Another set piece a free kick gets Millie her second at the back post with a nudge in! They all count! Still,only 6 mins into the 2nd half. 0-3
Another corner and now we are looking dangerous at every set piece! Marvellous Millie gets her well deserved hatrick 0-4. Game over?Madison’s turn to drive forward from the wing and a long run down the right ends in a goal right in the corner. 0-5
Charlie now comes on pitch and takes a great pass after some great interplay from Alice, Chloe A & Grace to set up a shot from the edge of the box, giving a well earned rest for Georgie upfront who worked tirelessly trying to hold the ball up. 0-6 All the players are desperate to keep hydrated as temperatures rise, thankfully we had 14 players, and they all played a major part in this very successful day, month, season!!
GREAT DAY, GREAT SEASON, GREAT MEMORIES, GREAT SUPPORT, GREAT TEAM! End of a Chapter ! New one has begun!! ‘Once a Lionesses always a Lionesses at heart.’
POM – MILLIE
Aylesbury u18
MATCH REPORT. 30th April 2016 . Away Fairford Leys , Aylesbury. Friendly. Bright sunny conditions.
Squad: Charlie,Leanne, Chloe, Millie, Micky, Grace, Alice, Emily, Carrie, Amy, Casey, Georgie, Rosie.
Perfect Spring morning for Ladies football, sunny blue sky, pitch looking great! All credit to Aylesbury United ( formally Vale Reds team) for inviting us to play at Fairford Leys where we have played many exciting games in the passed. A 13 player Lionesses squad travelled the 22 miles to take on a tough challenge.
This was going to be no exception. Both teams looked up for it. Although the Lionesses were told pre match that Aylesbury had not lost a league game all season and were sitting on top of the Thames Valley League Division 2. But hey! Neither had we!! The first few minutes saw Aylesbury taking the game to the Lionesses surging forward with pace and power looking like a Garston team! ( including purple shirts )
It took Amy only 11 mins to put the previous games injury behind her with a great strike from distance following some nice neat passing by the midfield of Alice, Carrie, Emily, Casey. 0-1 . This took Aylesbury a little by surprise not used to teams taking the initiative against them. It took another 26minutes before Emily’s quick thinking from a throw in and a one two with Amy made all the pressure count to give Carrie (taking a leaf out of Amy’s book) another shot from outside the box which ended up in the top corner. 0-2
3 minutes later Amy not wanting to be out done by Carrie hits another beauty from outside the box to make it 0-3 at Half time.
The second half started like the first as Aylesbury started to realise they did not like being 3 down! They started to get into their stride finding there passes, but Micky soon broke up there neat passing by stepping in continually to anticipate there passes brilliantly.
The team were playing some very attractive football from back to front, with Charlie & Leanne our 2 goal keepers in fine form and the solid defence of Chloe, Millie, Micky, & Grace holding firm. With Casey & Emily plus a run out for the returning Rosie down the flacks on a pitch as wide as it was long! Looked great!
Georgie was working hard to hold the ball up as the lone striker against the best central Aylesbury defender who made everything hard for Georgie, who just kept on putting pressure on all their defence and never giving up! The second half proved much harder (as we said it would at half time) as Aylesburys supporters & parents demanded more! It took the Loinesses until the 65th minute to close the game out with a left foot shot ( you guessed outside the box ) from Carrie to wrong foot the well worked keeper and score her second. Game over!
Well done on the performance team! That’s just what we wanted. That’s what we asked for and that’s what we got!!!
Player of match chosen by Aylesbury was no.10 Rosie.
Pat & Steve
Newport Pagnell u18
Squad: Leanne, Chloe, Millie, Micky, Alice, Emily, Amy, Carrie, Casey, Madison, Georgie, Grace.
It was always going to be difficult to replicate the previous weeks excellent performance against Northampton but to be fair Woburn started off strongly and after only 6 minutes Casey slotted past the Newport keeper, Carrie doubling the lead on 16m with a strong shot from just outside the area after excellent control and lay-off from Maddie.
After that though Woburn relaxed, perhaps thinking the job was done already and became a little sloppy in their passing and control and Newport took advantage after a rare defensive lapse at the back to make it 1-2 at half-time.
Woburn didn’t really get out of 3rd gear in the 2nd half, but to be fair didn’t need to with Alice scoring at the back post from a corner to make it 3-1, Newport again pulled one back but Carrie and then Casey scored again in the last 15-minutes to make it 2-5 at full time.
Positives from the game were, a victory though the team was not at its best, no injuries ahead of next weeks cup final (despite some hefty challenges from Newports right-back) and the girls definitely didn’t use all their energy so should have be raring to go against Leighton Vixens in what will be Wobunrs third successive County Cup final appearance next Sunday.
POM goes to Maddie for some excellent attacking runs down the right wing.
Northampton u18
Squad :Leanne,Chloe A,Millie,Micky,Grace,Casey,Carrie,Amy,Chloe R,Georgie,Emily.
Here we go again! Northampton u18 visit Crawley Road, Woburn sacred home of the Lions!
What a good end to end game it proved to be.
Chloe R back after a short break scored after 9 minutes, Georgie getting another after 30 mins.
Northampton pulled one back with some slick passing which in the end gave them a tap in to score.
2nd half we played strongly again, but Northampton equalised from a free kick right on corner of area which Amy tried to clear off the line but couldn’t manage to keep out.
Best goal of the game was Amy’s , with 10 minutes to go she made a great run down the left getting through a couple of tackles and smashing it into the goal.
Northampton tried to the end to get an equaliser coming close a couple of times but Leanne made a number of saves look comfortable and came out to make a great block one of the few times Northampton centre forward got the run on Millie.
Quite a few players could have got POM. Chloe R who looked dangerous attacking down the left having not played for 2 months and having a bad cold, Casey for playing out of position in the middle, Millie and Micky in the middle of defence but Amy deserves it most for playing holding role she’s not used to, really sticking to it and then scoring a great winning goal.
POM. AMY
Well done to all 11 players for a great result even though that was not are main concern!!
Summertown Stars U18
Saturday 5th Feb. 2016
SUMMERTOWN STARS u18s 1 v 4 WW-FC LIONESSES u18s
Friendly – Heavy conditions, wet with cross wind, big pitch. Attendance: 14
Squad – Jess, Chloe A, Millie, Micky, Grace, Emily, Carrie, Amy, Casey, Georgie.
Cold morning with snow falling in MK at 8am! Not looking good for the long drive to Oxford, will it be on or off was the question? Text from the opposition Manager says it’s good to go! Little did we know that they were struggling for players at the last minute ,but still started with 9v9 . This was going to be a tough game but great for the fitness of our travelling group. With such a large pitch and fewer players the decision was taken to play 35 each way. It was going to be interesting playing with a back 3, and a rotating 3 at that! But well done Chloe, Millie, Micky & Grace for adapting and doing what was needed.
The first half was end to end with the Lionesses having the Lions share of the ball, but we found it hard to finish in the final 3rd of the pitch, with great chances being created left, right & centre or was it left & left! We tried to switch play more often. Casey making all the running down the left, sooner or later all the possession was going to tell. Shots kept raining in on the Summertown goal but the keeper was having a magnificent game making save after save. She kept it nil-nil at halftime.
Second half continued like the first with the visitors trying to keep the ball, and move it around with pace and purpose. This was not easy on a heavy pitch, but then after good pressure from Georgie she got the opener on 39 mins, which helped the Lionesses to relax, time for Emily to get into her stride on the right and put away no.2 on 43 mins. Amy then got her left peg firing and finally beat the keeper to get a deserved goal on 62min. 0-3.
We then not surprisingly started to tire, and in not clearing our lines quickly enough they got one back. 1-3. Lots of good balls from dominant midfield Carrie trying to keep the ball moving at our tempo . Emily still had time to get another 5 mins from the whistle! Final score 1-4
POM Micky. Special thanks to Jess for stepping in between the sticks & Steve A for being ready to ref with Neil as Lino.
Northampton v Lionesses U18
Squad: Leanne, Alice, Millie, Micky, Grace, Chloe A, Amy, Madison, Emily, Casey, Georgie, Charlie.
It would be so easy to blame it all on the ref, but we are not going to do that. I think we were beaten in the first half by a team who ” wanted it more” then us!
And I don’t say that often!!
They kept the ball so much better and if you keep giving them the ball back, you will get punished and we did.
Admittedly we only had a squad of 12 available, but so did they! So we can’t use that as an excuse either, so we will not.
Discipline is the key even if the referee is seemingly against you.
A second half recovery looked possible with a much better attitude and belief in each other. Some nice passing, playing simple football started to look good, a few good saves from Leanne, but an early soft penalty just after half time, took the wind out of us. Then a dodgy free kick given by the ref for a so called back pass was pretty harsh .They scored from both! You have got to give them credit for not giving us an inch. Amy tried hard but they gave her no time to get her shots away! Some strong tackling at the back by Chloe & Grace was not liked by the ref who penalised the Lionesses time after time. Frustrating!
It seemed like every time we gave them the ball, they went and scored.
There were some positives: 3 goals scored, by Georgie on 38, Casey on 44 , and Amy on 51 minutes, some good attacking runs by Madison and Casey gave our frozen supporters something to cheer about.
A much better second half, 12 players had a good workout, ready for the more important game on Saturday. Score not important! Performance definitely will be better next time. Final score 9-3 . Hunger, desire, determination, belief, all ingredients needed to be added to the next game!
POM Casey ( picked by the Opposition )
Senior Girls County Cup Final KO 10.30am
BEDS FA COUNTY CUP FINAL , Kempston Rovers ground Sunday 17th April 2016 KO 10.30am. Ref. Terry McCarthy.
Squad: Leanne, Chloe, Millie, Micky, Grace, Madison, Molly, Carrie, Amy, Casey, Emily, Georgie, Alice, Charlie.
Goals: Casey x 4, Molly x 2, Georgie x 2, Madison x 1
The first of 2 Cup Finals to end the season for the U18s. Beautiful sunny day in Kempston, team arrives early only to be told we are playing not on grass but the Astro ! Shock! horror!
Woburns squad of 14 arrive to find Leighton only have 11! Their bench looked a tad empty with only the Manager taking a seat. Vixens started with great enthusiasm and put Woburn under pressure from the off. Lionesses looked a little nervous and took 7 minutes for Carrie to head Casey through on goal to score. 1 minute later Georgie adds the second slotting it passed the Vixens keeper. 2-0 Game on! Woburn then relaxed and started to play some nice passing football, taking control of the midfield who where able to give plenty of wide balls to Madison & Casey to run onto . Leighton were unlucky not to get one back when Vixens Rachel hits the post from a half way line super shot. On 18 mins Molly with her trade mark long range effort finds the net. 3-0. 6 mins later Georgie breaks away with pace to get goal number 4. With great determination Amy & Carrie go for the same high ball Carrie getting there first with her head meets Amy’s boot 2nd! Both players down Amy nearly out! Landing awkwardly on her back, 15 minutes later the stretcher was in use to take her to the 1st Aid room, where the ambulance was called to take her to hospital for an X – Ray on her back, just to be on the safe side. Not the way she wanted to end the game, but Amy had played very well up to this point, and deserved to have scored . Half time 4-0
Leighton then lose a player from injury so both teams play on with 10 each, this opens the game up and gives more space to Woburn who on 47 mins get the 5th goal from Casey. 5-0 game over! On 49 mins Casey scores again 6-0. By now Vixens heads had gone down under the continued bombardment. On 55 mins Molly breaks through and again let’s fly with a shot 7-0 Madison then starts a run down the left and cuts in onto her right to fire a great shot into the near post on 57mins.8-0 . Time to rest a few players so off come Carrie and Molly . The defence was working hard to keep out Vixens Top goal scorers Rachel, Lizzie, & Lauren who were doing there best to get a break through. No chance as Chloe, Millie, Grace, Alice & our ‘stalker’Micky stayed solid & composed at the back. Still time for Potential Player of match Casey to get her head on the end of a perfect cross from the right from Molly on 83 mins for goal no. 9 and Casey’s fourth!
Well played all the squad 2 down & one to go! If you know what I mean. BEDS FA COUNTY CUP CHAMPIONS at u18 for the 2nd year in a row.
News from the hospital is that Amy is bruised and sore but keen to be back training ASAP.
BEDS FA PLAYER OF THE MATCH was our no. 11 Molly!
Final score a unbelievable 9-0. 