On Friday 2nd December the Year 5/6 Girls’ Football Borough Championship took place with 20 schools looking to come out as borough Champions and take home the coveted trophy as well as a place at the London Youth Games. After a short briefing regarding rules, format of the day and most importantly our REFSPECT campaign all teams were ready and eager to go. From the outset it was clear that the teams were well prepared, organised on the pitch and confident.
The group stage results were as follows:
Group A
1st Garfield
2nd Wimbledon Park
3rd Poplar
4th Morden
5th Links
Group B
1st Hollymount
2nd Hillcross
3rd Holy Trinity
4th Joseph Hood
5th West Wimbledon
Group C
1st Ursuline
2nd Pelham
3rd St John Fisher
4th Wimbledon Chase
5th Aragon
Group D
1st Bishop Gilpin
2nd SSPP
3rd St Teresas
4th Halemere
5th William Morris
The next round saw some very closely fought matches with lots of extra time and penalty shoot outs.
As the finals approached the tension began to mount but the girls weren’t phased and continued to perform.
The 3rd and 4th place play off saw Bishop Gilpin beat SSPP on penalties, it was a great game to watch.
The final was between the two strong and organised teams Hollymount and Garfield. The game was nail-biting with excellent organisation, team work, passing and defending from both sides. As time progressed it was difficult to call the winner but Hollymount kept pressing and eventually got the goals to secure victory by 2-0 and be crowned Borough Champions.
REF-SPECT
The etiquette and sportsmanship was fantastic throughout the day. Supporters were positive and the girls were very considerate to each other and the referees. The Ref-Spect Winners were Garfield who displayed a great attitude throughout the tournament even after a defeat. Well done Garfield!
Ricards Lodge sports leaders did a great job proving to be very confident and capable referees and they kept the event running smoothly.
Hollymount and Garfield will also represent Merton in either the LYG School Games finals or the Surrey Schools FA Finals.
A huge thank you to Tooting & Mitcham FC for hosting and providing such a fantastic facility for the girls to show off their skills.