The U11 girls won 3-0 away at Ilkley today to reach the Cup Final. After beating the league leaders Knaresborough Celtic in the last round we needed a top performance to beat an Ilkley side that had lost just one of their last 4 games, and that is just what we got.
The first half was tough but played with lots of energy and some great attacking moves. Chloe went close a couple of times playing alongside Emily who also had chances created by Ella and Steph in midfield. Ilkley created some chances of their own but Emma and Molly both worked hard covering each other and leaving Sam with only a few saves to make. One of these saves however was the save of the game when she managed to get a hand to a great shot by Ilkley to steer the ball round the post.
The second half kicked off with Maddy replacing Molly and Steph dropping back into defence, where she seemed very comfortable indeed, and the Scorchers pushing forward for the elusive first goal. In a great period of pressure both Emily and Chloe hit the post and Emily and Ella managed to shoot wide when one-on-one with the keeper on three separate occasions.
The tension was finally broken when Ella picked the ball up in an advanced position, controlled the ball onto her favoured left foot and she made no mistake from 10 yards out. There was relief on the pitch (and from the supporters on the side line!) and this showed as the Scorchers pushed on. Emily made it 2-0 when her great footwork took her round two defenders and she took a bouncing ball on the volley to fire home.
Jes and Georgina were brought on to replace the hard working Emma and Steph, who both had terrific games, and they both slotted into their defensive roles well, ensuring that Sam, in goal, had a very quiet second half.
There was still time for Emily to hit the post, the Scorchers be awarded a penalty for a very unfortunate hand ball, miss the penalty and then Chole to score the third with the last kick of the game. Exciting stuff!
All-in-all a very good win for the Scorchers and we are already looking forward to the final in a few weeks time! Well done to all the girls, you all played really well, player of the match was a difficult choice given the great performance but Ella stood out with her well timed goal, great defending and her energetic attacking midfield play.
