U11 Girls Claim Gold In The Plate At The ISA Nationals

In the group stage, the girls won their first pool game 2-0. They then narrowly lost the next two pool games, against the strongest teams in the tournament. That put them third in their group, and they went forward to the Plate play-offs.

They first faced Old Vicarage School in the semis. OVS scored first but, after a tightly contested few minutes, Crackley responded. The final score of a well-matched game was 1-1. That meant a penalty shoot-out! Eleanor, Milly and Jessie stepped up to take the penalties (Jessie was also in goal!) That was a truly nail-biting affair. Eleanor scored in the top right corner, then Jessie saved OVS’ first attempt. Milly’s shot was saved by the OVS keeper and then OVS scored. So, it was all down to the last penalty, Jessie scored Crackley’s final penalty and then saved the OVS shot, taking Crackley through.

In the Plate final, the girls faced Birchfield School. They went out confident and determined and managed to score quickly. A few minutes later, they took the score to 2-0 and then held off the Birchfield attack until the end.

The team earned themselves gold medals and a lovely shield. Well done to them all.