THE Shoalhaven under 16 girls football team have capped off an amazing season on the field, by claiming the 2018 Country Cup in Mudgee.
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Led by coach Brad Banks, the 15-member side first got together in July last year, to prepare for a long season together.
“This group was very technically sound with their passes and control on the ball,” Banks said.
“This allowed them to string a number of passes together and build up plays nicely – which was different to last year’s side, which was personified by counter attacking football.”
The team’s undefeated campaign started at the Branch titles in Goulburn, where they drew 1-all with the hosts before defeating Highlands 3-2.
The team next played at South Nowra’s Ison Park, recording two impressive wins – 8-nil against Far South Coast and 3-nil against Goulburn.
“The girls made a huge improvement between the first and second weekends, as we really concentrated on not giving away the ball in our defensive third,” Banks said.
“Which is a credit to the character of the girls in this squad.”
The final two games of the Branch titles saw the team draw 1-all with the Highlands, before edging out Far South Coast 5-nil.
“Because of the draws we had during the competition, we needed to win that final game against Far South Coast to qualify for the Country Cup,” co-captain Selina Harden, who played goalkeeper, said.
The team then turned their attentions to the Country Cup, from June 9-10.
“Brad prepared us really well for the Country Cup, which made us all confident going into the tournament,” said leadership group member Izzy Barak.
“He really made us concentrate on our own games and gave us all little goals to achieve on the field.”
Once in Mudgee, team opened the campaign against Dubbo – a game they won 2-nil.
“The first game settled a lot of the girls nerves and gave us all confidence going forward in the competition,” said leadership group member Kyra McKinnon.
“We then took on Highlands in game two and after drawing with them last game, all the girls were really keen to win that one – which we did 4-nil, in probably our best performance of the season.”
The final game pitted the girls against Lachlan – a game they needed to at least draw to win the cup.
Thankfully the team managed to hold on for a nil-all draw, to claim the victory.
“It was very nervy towards the end of the game against Lachlan, with them having a couple of chances very late in the game but to the girls’ credited, they defended their hearts out,” Banks said.
“I was so happy that the girls got the just reward for all their hard work during the season.
“I put the win down to the quality the girls played with every single game and the fact that they didn’t concede a goal at Country Cup – the first time that’s happened in 20 years.”
During the campaign, Kaitlyn Sennitt and Abbey Patrick led the way with 16 and 10 goals respectively.
Squad: Luci Knight ©, Selina Harden ©, Abbey Patrick, Georgia Vella, Emma Rafidi, Emma Moore, Lakia Brown, Jade Ryan, Kaitlyn Sennitt, Lara Garin, Hannah Urqart, Sarah Cameron, Ella Simon, Izzy Barak and Kyra McKinnon.