U10s Match Reports
25/04/10 Bury Girls & Ladies FC V Mill Hill Girls FC
North Valley League Cup Final 2009/10 - Further details click here
18/04/10 Bury Girls & Ladies FC V Leigh Genesis FC
Ahead of our League Cup Final next week, we were very pleased to welcome Andy Burton and his U10 girls from Leigh Genesis FC to our ground at Phillips High for a friendly match. We had been due to play another club, but they had to pull out at short notice and Andy very kindly volunteered to bring his girls along on the day. This also turned out to be a type of Inter-League match as LGFC presently play in the Wigan Girls’ Friendly League, whilst we have been competing in the North Valley League.
Our team was made up as follows: -
Jodie, Sasha, Jessica, Amy, Kiera, Sophie, Kayleigh, Eloise, Courteney and Kristeen.
Given it was a friendly, we split the action into 3 ‘thirds’, giving the girls a chance to take more breaks on a warm day and to allow the managers to experiment with different formations. The pre-match preparations started with a ‘TV-style’ line-up, where all the girls were clapped by the large numbers of parents, grandparents and friends attending from both sides, and the girls then moved down the line, all shaking hands and smiling for the cameras—just like on the telly!!
There was plenty of lively action from the start and it was good end-to-end stuff, with both sides creating opportunities and going close to getting a goal.
It was Bury who seized an opportunity first, with Kristeen scoring from close range, despite the marvellous efforts of the excellent LGFC goalie.
Undeterred, the LGFC girls kept working hard and were rewarded with an excellent goal from the right, slammed into the top corner, giving Sasha in our nets absolutely no chance to save. Score 1-1.
The rest of the match flowed in similar fashion, with the ‘woodwork’ also helping to keep out goals.
Eventually, Bury were able to capitalise on some extra space in the LGFC defence, by sending out its ‘hunting pack’ (Jodie and Sophie) to chase down the ball and deliver it to Kristeen to score two further goals to get her hat trick!!
The match finished at 3-1 to Bury, but it had been an excellent, well-balanced contest, which could have gone either way.
We had a fun penalty shoot out at the end and this brought plenty of laughs and cheers from both sides and their supporters!!
Player of the match for Bury, as voted by the opposition, was Sasha, with Amy getting the vote from our Referee for the day, Andrew Taggart.
Our thanks go to Andy Burton and the Leigh Genesis girls for coming to take part in the match at short notice and for the excellent sporting nature in which they approached the game. Thanks also to Andrew for officiating the game and to all the families and friends for attending and supporting the girls. We look forward to a return fixture at Leigh over the next couple of months.
Final Score: Bury Girls & Ladies FC 3 Leigh Genesis FC 1
21/03/10 Bury Girls & Ladies FC v Oswaldtwistle St Mary's Girls FC
North Valley League Cup Semi-Final played at Townley Park, Burnley
To be honest, when I saw Bury had been drawn against Oswaldtwistle in the League Cup Semi-Final, I feared the worst. Our two league meetings have on the face of it been quite close affairs (Bury going down by the odd goal on both occasions). It must be said that the score lines may have flattered Bury and I would rate Oswaldtwistle as one of the toughest opponents we have played against this season.
However, past form counts for nothing in the Cup and Bury Girls were in no mood to give up without a fight. From the very kick-off, Oswaldtwistle were on the back foot and Bury quickly took control of the match. It seemed that every 50/50 ball was going in our favour and Oswaldtwistle’s beleaguered defence were constantly struggling to clear their lines. Whilst we did not create many clear cut scoring chances in the first half, we did force a succession of very dangerous corners. Surely it was just a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken if we continued in the same manner. Such was Bury’s dominance in the first half that stand-in goalie Amy was a virtual spectator as the ever dependable Kiera, Nicole and Sophie broke up anything approaching a threatening move from the Ossy forward line.
At half time, Graeme took the opportunity to freshen up the team. Kiera and Jodie were both given a well-deserved rest. In their places, Jessica slotted into midfield and Courteney went into goals giving Amy a run out in defence after her steady first half display.
After the break, Bury continued to ratchet up the pressure with both Eloise and Kristeen coming close to breaking the stalemate, both being denied by good saves and frantic last gasp blocks.
With ten minutes left of the match, Graeme made his final tactical switch – bringing on Jodie and Keira again to take over from Eloise and Nicole respectively. They had both “run their socks off” and the “fresh legs” proved a turning point. Almost immediately, Kristeen fired a long goal kick over the Oswaldtwistle defence and Jodie ran on to coolly fire in a much-deserved opening goal.
With time running out, Oswaldtwistle applied more and more pressure to try and grasp a late equaliser, but the Bury defence of Kiera and Sophie remained solid. Courteney played a blinder in goal commanding the area and comfortably dealing with everything that was thrown at her. Then, with only two minutes to go, Kristeen broke free on the left and fired in the decisive second goal.
If there were wild celebrations on the pitch when the final whistle blew, it was nothing compared to the joy and sheer relief of the parents who were watching on nervously from the sidelines.
Big congratulations must go to all of the team and the coaching staff for producing such an excellent performance. Thanks must also go to the Oswaldtwistle girls who once again played the game in the proper spirit and were big enough sports to wish us well in the final.
Whilst it really is unfair to single out star players when all nine players were stars in their own right, both Amy and Courteney deserve special praise for filling in admirably in goals. Not only did they keep a clean sheet, but they also had the happy knack of making sure their clearances kept finding our own players.
Our player of the match award, as voted by the Oswaldtwistle girls, went to Jodie for her tireless running and great all round display. Kiera was voted as the parents’ choice for a colossal performance in defence.
One final thought that crossed my mind after the game is that Bury have now got positive results against four of the five teams in our league. It’s “Murphy’s Law” that the only team we have not got a result against “yet” is the runaway league champions and our opponents in the League Cup Final – Mill Hill Girls.
However, on the strength of how well the girls played here and how much they were up for the Cup, I wouldn’t rule out Bury claiming another scalp and finishing our first ever season with silverware.
Well done girls – You’ve made us all really proud!!
Final score: Bury Girls & Ladies FC 2 Oswaldtwistle St Mary's Girls FC 0
Thanks to Paul Douglas (parent) for the match report.
14/03/10 Fleetwood Town GIrls FC V Bury Girls & Ladies FC
This fixture had been cancelled a number of times across the winter months, due to weather and waterlogged pitch issues. With the onset of Spring, blue sky and sunshine, we were eventually able to make the trip to the North Fylde coast and take on the girls from Fleetwood Town.
Our team was made up as follows: -
Jodie, Jessica, Amy, Kiera, Sophie, Kayleigh, Eloise, Courteney and Kristeen.
Unfortunately, what we had hoped would be a worthy victory at the end of our League campaign for the 2009-10 season turned into a disappointing defeat on the grounds of Memorial Park, next to the Blue Square League stadium of Fleetwood Town. To repeat an old cliché “we didn’t turn up” would not be far from the truth. On a day when we fielded a team that was strong enough to score several goals, we eventually were only able to score one and this was not going to be enough to cope with the lively breakaway play of the Fleetwood girls. Our strongest goalkeeper was unavailable on the day, so Sophie was drafted in as an emergency replacement, but in doing this, we lost a key outfield player in a match where midfield supremacy was going to be a telling factor. We survived an early scare when Fleetwood hit our post with a speculative early shot and in a further skirmish, Sophie made an excellent deflection save, only to see the ball bounce away to one of their unmarked forwards for an easy tap in at the near post. The rest of the match followed a similar pattern, but with chances coming at both ends. The score was still 1-0 at half-time, but we made a good start to the second half, when Kristeen scored an excellent goal to bring it level. Kayleigh had taken over in our nets at the break and kept the Fleetwood forwards at bay for several minutes, before they again capitalised on confusion in our defence to slot an easy goal home, taking it to 2-1 to Fleetwood. We swapped the team around to try and give everybody an equal share of play and to cope with a couple of injuries incurred along the way. Despite some chances created by Bury and good pressure with several corner kicks awarded to us, we were also lucky to survive some breakaway moves by the Fleetwood forwards, with further goals only being saved by last gasp runs from our midfield, or Kayleigh’s heroics in goal. Ultimately, we could not get back an equaliser, which on balance, we would have just about deserved on our overall play. As it was, we had to succumb to a disappointing loss to the Fleetwood girls, which resulted in us also swapping places with them in the North Valley league table—a real “6-pointer” of a match, as the football pundits would say, with Bury on the wrong end of the result!!
We had a fun penalty shoot out at the end, where many of our team felt that the goalposts had moved in their run-ups to take the kick!!! This shoot-out finished with our coach Mark taking on the Fleetwood manager David, but this finished as an honourable stalemate draw, given both “semi-pros” saved each other’s shots in dramatic fashion!!!
Player of the match for Bury, as voted by the opposition, was Kristeen.
Our thanks go to the Fleetwood girls and managers for hosting the fixture and to all our parents for making the long trip to Fleetwood, plus their ongoing support and encouragement of the girls.
Final Score: Fleetwood Town Girls FC 2 Bury Girls & Ladies FC 1
07/03/10 Bury Girls & Ladies FC V Rishton Girls FC
Our team for this match was made up as follows: -
Sasha, Jodie, Jessica, Amy, Eloise, Kiera, Sophie, Kristeen, Nicole and Courteney.
Well—all we can say is what a difference a month can make!!
4 weeks ago, we went to Rishton Girls keen to do well after several weeks of “on/off” football, due to problems with snow, rain and waterlogged pitches. We left Rishton dazed from an onslaught of excellent play, physical presence and spectacular goals from the Rishton girls—and a scoreline that read 7-0 to our opponents!
Almost the same Bury team turned out for the return match, except we had the benefit of our sole ‘genuine’ Under 10 player Kristeen (being able to find the way this time to her home pitch, so it was a bit easier!) in the starting line-up as Captain, as was our Goalie Sasha. We were missing one of our players of the match from the first Rishton encounter in Kayleigh, but her deputising teammates were certainly up to the challenge.
No kidding—this was certainly still a very tough match from the start, with the Rishton girls keen to make their presence felt, but it was Bury throughout the first half who created the better chances and put the excellent Rishton goalie under pressure.
Sophie and Kristeen were deployed to try and stifle the attacking prowess of one of the Rishton stars from the first match and this seemed to work for the majority of the first half. After some great pressure, Bury took the lead through an excellent goal by Eloise and thoroughly deserved this reward.
Rishton came back to exert pressure and just before half time, managed to bag a brace of goals following an injury being sustained by Sasha in a very brave initial save, with our defenders being unable to stop one of the Rishton forwards seizing on the loose ball to score. The second goal came for Rishton very shortly afterwards, whilst Sasha was trying to recover and the rest of the team were still holding inquests on how the first goal had happened!
The second half followed a similar pattern, with end-to-end play being the order of the day. Bury were eventually rewarded again for their hard work with Kristeen scoring to bring the match even. Some excellent link-up play by Bury nearly brought us a third goal, with Courteney being only a whisker away from connecting to give us what would surely have been a crucial winning chance. The match finished in the same fashion as the rest of the game with possible opportunities at either end, but ultimately, it finished in a draw—albeit this felt like a win to all the Bury contingent, given the mauling we had experienced in the away fixture.
Player of the match for Bury, as voted by the opposition, was Kristeen, with Eloise taking the management team’s vote for her excellent work all around the pitch and an excellent goal, which opened the scoring for Bury. That said, all the Bury Girls did extremely well against tough opposition and all could have been good candidates for player of the match awards.
Our thanks go to the Rishton team for making this a very competitive match, to the referee Lucy Golding for doing an excellent job in marshalling the teams, to Josh and Andy for their linesmen duties and to all our parents for their support and encouragement of the girls.
Final Score: Bury Girls & Ladies FC 2 Rishton Girls FC 2
07/02/10 Rishton Girls FC V Bury Girls & Ladies FC
In a stop-start season with games called off and postponed on many occasions due to the weather, we were glad to get a chance of a game on grass, with the opponents on this occasion being the girls from Rishton, whom we had not played before, with the match being played at their home ground. As it was, the pitch was only just playable, given the amount of rain and dampness it had obviously absorbed over recent weeks.
Our team was made up as follows: -
Jodie, Jessica, Amy, Eloise, Kiera, Sophie, Kayleigh, Nicole and Courteney.
This turned out from the start to be a very tough uphill struggle for our girls. It was obvious we were facing a team virtually full of true Under 10 aged girls, with plenty of previous football experience, when all our team are really Under 9 age group girls looking for experience of league football. An added disappointment on the day was the loss of our oldest player Kristeen, due to travel problems on the way to the game.
Whilst Bury were keen to get into the game, the physical strength available to the Rishton girls was quickly brought into play and our girls had little opportunity to settle into any routine, losing their confidence in the face of strong tackles and very quick closing-down actions employed by the more experienced Rishton girls.
A number of goals were conceded in quick succession by Bury from various positions and an added blow was the loss of Eloise and her speed, just as she was building up some momentum in midfield, through a poor tackle. Amy also had to be substituted with an arm injury just on the verge of half time, as a result of some robust tackling from the opposition. Score at half-time was 4-0 to Rishton.
We were down to our last 7 standing players and Kiera very bravely volunteered to go in goals to give Kayleigh a break from the onslaught. We managed to stage a few isolated attacks with both Jessica and Courteney coming on with their fresh legs and, along with Kayleigh now upfront, having some limited success as the Rishton manager rotated his side to give his girls an opportunity in unfamiliar positions. Even this rotation did not really affect the quality of the Rishton play and they powered in some fantastic long-range goals, which even some Premiership players would have been proud of. Kiera had absolutely no chance with a number of these and the eventual score finished 7-0 to Rishton.
All credit to the opposition girls for playing well in determined fashion and putting their experience to great effect around the pitch and certainly in front of goal.
We will certainly learn from the experience and this display will prompt us to have a closer rethink on league strategy for next season. We always knew that the 2009-10 season would be an experimental one, playing against higher age group teams, but this is a particular experience that none of us wants to repeat too often.
Player of the match for Bury, as voted by the opposition, was Kayleigh, with Jessica taking the management team’s vote. That said, all the Bury Girls did well and we are justifiably proud of them.
Our thanks go to the Rishton team for their hosting of the match and to all our parents for their support and encouragement of the girls.
Final Score: Rishton Girls FC 7 Bury Girls & Ladies FC 0
13/12/09 Bury Girls & Ladies FC V Oswaldtwistle Girls FC
After a number of matches called off because of waterlogged pitches, we played our next fixture at home and took on a return match against the girls from Oswaldtwistle, where we had narrowly lost 1-0 in the away fixture a few weeks ago.
Our team was made up as follows: -
Jodie, Jessica, Amy, Kiera, Sophie, Kayleigh, Nicole, Courteney and Kristeen.
This turned out once again to be a very tough match, with the visitors applying plenty of pressure early on, whilst we struggled to get ourselves organised. This indecision showed when Oswaldtwistle made the most of confusion in our defence, seizing the opportunity to break free and score past our goalie Kayleigh, who had little chance to stop the shot. Bury began to have more of the ball as the first half went on and whilst they were managing to keep the “Ossie” attack at bay, there was always the danger of another break, as we left ourselves a little too exposed when trying to move forward to get the equaliser. This open play eventually gave another opportunity to the opposition, which they took, pushing their advantage to 0-2.
Bury continued to look for opportunities to attack and create space for the forwards, but we were struggling to make any headway against a resilient Oswaldtwistle defence. That said, we did eventually find the gap and Jodie once again put away a fine goal to get us back into the match. The play was evenly balanced, with Sophie and Nicole keeping it tight at the back, whilst Courteney then took over from Kayleigh in goals, shortly after which she managed to thwart another opposition goal, when unfortunately left in a “1 on 1” situation deep into the second half. This provided the impetus for Bury to push on in search of the equaliser, with excellent pressure being applied to force some corners and goalmouth ‘skirmishes’ at the Oswaldtwistle end. Unfortunately, the equaliser never came and the victory went to the girls from Oswaldtwistle.
All credit to the opposition girls for playing well in determined fashion and putting on an even better show than in the first game with them. Player of the match for Bury, as voted by the opposition, was Nicole, with Sophie taking the management team’s vote. That said, all the Bury Girls did well against strong opposition.
Our thanks go to the Oswaldtwistle girls and managers for putting on a great match, to our referee Lucy Golding for her efficient and professional control of the match and to all our parents for their support and encouragement of the girls.
Final Score: Bury Girls & Ladies FC 1 Oswaldtwistle Girls FC 2
22/11/09 Lytham YMCA Girls FC V Bury Girls & Ladies FC
The next league match for our girls involved a trip out to the Fylde Coast, with the girls from Lytham being our hosts for this game.
At a time when a number of matches in the league have had to be called off due to waterlogged pitches, Lytham have been able to keep playing their games, due to the excellent work put in by their ground staff. The pitch was a real credit to their club and it certainly added to the overall game and occasion.
The girls taking part for Bury on this occasion were as follows: -
Jodie, Jessica (her first game on grass in Bury colours), Kiera, Sophie, Eloise, Kayleigh, Nicole, Courteney, Kristeen and Sasha in goals.
We had a tough home match against Lytham a few weeks ago and we had to survive a second-half onslaught from them on that occasion, just about earning our eventual 3-2 win.
Whilst they are presently lying at the foot of our league table, that position in no way reflects their capabilities.
We found that again in this match, where we were put under pressure from the start, having to repel a number of early attacks. Kayleigh picked up an early injury following a very brave challenge and we had to re-jig the formation, switching Sophie to defence alongside Nicole.
Our persistence and strength in midfield eventually paid off, with Eloise latching onto a through ball, shrugging off two defenders and putting an excellent shot past the Lytham goalie.
Score stayed at 0-1 to Bury at half time, when we switched the team around to bring on our remaining two reserves.
The match was still very evenly balanced, when Kristeen was able to capitalise on some momentary confusion in the Lytham defence and create herself enough space to slot the ball home—0-2 to Bury.
This goal spurred Lytham on and after a further period of pressure, they managed to get a goal back, despite a despairing dive from our keeper Sasha-1-2 to Bury.
Pressure was on now and one of the Lytham forwards broke free down the middle with only the goalie to beat. This would have been a tough ‘one on one’ for Sasha to cope with, had it not been for a ‘lung-bursting’ run from Sophie to catch the forward and get in a great tackle to stifle the attack.
Pressure at the back galvanised Jodie into action once again and she went on one of her ‘trademark’ solo runs to beat several defenders and score a great individual goal-1-3 to Bury.
The remainder of the game brought opportunities at both ends—Lytham had a few shots just wide of our goals, whilst we continued to swop girls around to give everyone a reasonable run on the pitch and some excellent saves from Millie in the Lytham goal restricted our ability to score any more goals.
Final whistle went with Bury taking a deserved away win, but all credit to the girls from Lytham for putting on a great show once again. Player of the match for Bury, as voted by the Lytham girls, was Kristeen, with Jodie taking the management team’s vote, but in reality, all the Bury squad deserved special mention as they all played well in blustery conditions.
Our thanks go to the Lytham girls and managers for putting on a great match, to their ground staff for the excellent pitch and to all our parents for making the long trip to Lytham to enable their daughters to represent Bury Girls & Ladies FC.
Well done girls—we have moved up to third in the League with this win!!
Final Score: Lytham YMCA Girls FC 1 Bury Girls & Ladies FC 3
08/11/09 Mill Hill Girls FC V Bury Girls & Ladies FC
25/10/09 Oswaldtwistle St. Mary’s FC v Bury Girls & Ladies FC
This was the girls’ first away game of the season--we were not sure how long it would take to get there, but Paul D set off early so he could get a Full English Breakfast before the match at the local café.
It was a windy morning, but from the kick off, Bury Girls started positively with Kristeen pushing the girls forward, resulting in a few early chances. Oswaldtwistle then started to come into it a bit more and Kayleigh in our goal made a few good saves. Bury Girls then went back up the other end and Kiera had a good shot on goal which was saved.
It was end to end and the girls were tackling and chasing everything--as half time came, the sides were level at 0-0.
Graeme had a talk to the girls and asked for more of the same in the second half.
Bury Girls kicked off the second half and Eloise had a good shot on goal, but then Kayleigh had to make 2 good saves from Oswaldtwistle. Courteney had a good chance to score but pulled her shot past the post.
Oswaldtwistle then created a chance and scored a very good goal, which unfortunately Kayleigh had no chance with. Bury pushed forward for an equaliser, but it would not come--the match ended at 1-0 to Oswaldtwistle.
Kayleigh had a good game in goal and if she keeps making those saves, her mum is going to lose some money!
Kristeen got the Player of the Match for Bury Girls, awarded by the opposition manager. Our own Player of the Match award from our manager went to Sophie on this occasion.
Thank you to all the parents who made the trip over to Oswaldtwistle to support the girls.
Final Score: Oswaldtwistle St Marys 1 Bury Girls & Ladies FC 0
Thanks to John Alty for the match report
If ever a match can be described as
the proverbial game of two halves, this was it. I don't know if the Lytham
girls were just feeling the effects of their long journey but they didn't
know what had hit them in the first half.
Straight from the kick off, Bury Girls were on top note winning every
challenge and pinning Lytham back into their own penalty area with wave
after wave of attacks. On another day, Courteney would have scored a hat
trick in the first 10 minutes with all of the chances that came her way.
Eloise also had a great effort that came back off the post and Kristeen
forced a couple of great stops from their keeper.
Eventually, all of the pressure told and Kristeen opened the scoring after a
fine individual run. Shortly afterwards, Courteney's luck changed and she
added a well-taken second goal, but only after deftly controlling the ball
with her 'posterior'!!!
Such was Bury's dominance in the first half that Jodie was a virtual
spectator in goal. Sophie put in an excellent captain's performance covering
every part of the pitch and organising her teammates when required. Despite
keeping up the intense pressure and creating plenty of chances, the score at
half time was a "comfortable" 2 -0 lead to Bury.
We made a couple of changes at half time and I think we were all expecting
more of the same stuff in the second half, but Lytham weren't for giving up
quite so easily. I don't know what Lytham's manager said to them at half
time, but whatever it was, it worked!
All of a sudden, it was Bury that were struggling to get the ball out of
their own area and all of our excellent passing and running of the first
half dried up. Lytham pulled one back in the first couple of minutes and the
game was suddenly very much alive again. The teams seemed a lot closer
matched than earlier and it was end-to-end stuff. With five minutes to go,
Lytham scored an excellent and well-deserved equaliser. I think quite a few
of the Bury parents feared that if any team were more likely to win, it
would be the visitors.
However, we need not have worried as the Bury Girls stepped up their efforts
to win the game all over again. Following a lovely flowing move that
involved all of our forward line, Jodie fired home a decisive winning goal
in the last minute of normal time.
Overall, I think our play warranted the win, but it was nail-biting stuff
and I for one was glad when the referee blew up for full time. Whilst our
performance at times after the break was patchy, we must take confidence
from the quality of our first half play and the nerve showed by the girls in
going on to win the game after conceding an equaliser so late in the match.
Our player of the match nominated by the Lytham manager was Courteney for
her goal and her all round excellent forward play. She may not have stung
her Dad for big money this week (She's on £1 a goal!!), but she always has
the uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time when the
ball is played through.
Our own player of the match award went to Nicole, who was the model of
commitment throughout the game. Not only did she turn in a faultless
performance in the first half in defence, but she also filled in as goalie
during the tense closing minutes.
A very big thank you must go to the girls and parents from Lytham for making
the long journey to Bury. It will be interesting to see how closely matched
the teams are in the reverse fixture, once we've both got some more match
experience behind us.
The 10 girls attending the match on behalf of Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as
follows: -
Jodie, Sophie, Amy, Nicole, Courteney,
Kristeen, Eloise, Hannah, Casey and Kiera.
Final Score: Bury Girls & Ladies FC 3 Lytham YMCA Girls FC 2
Thanks to Paul Douglas for the match report
After the heavy defeat against Mill Hill Girls FC last week, the Bury U10s girls were looking forward to a better result when they took on Charlotte and her girls from Fleetwood Town at the ‘Phillips Superdome’ today.
We ended up with 11 girls in the Bury squad on the day—7 players in the starting line up, with 4 reserves to come on during the match. All the girls who did not play for various reasons last week were in the starting line-up this time.
The 11 girls attending the match on behalf of Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as follows: -
During the first half, the game was “end to end” stuff, with some strong pressure being applied by the Fleetwood front line, meaning that Kayleigh had to be on her toes in the Bury net.
Amy had to come off the pitch early in the half after very bravely cutting out a cross from Fleetwood with her nose and cheek—it doesn’t matter how you do it, she just did and it saved us from a difficult goalmouth scramble! Sasha was also ‘in the wars’ after suffering an injury to her foot during a lively tussle for the ball on the left wing.
Despite having to juggle our formation once again, the players came in at half time on a level footing at 0-0. Jade was tired out after much running in the first half and handed her captaincy over to Amy, who was keen to get back into the action.
The second half started brightly for Bury, with Kristeen taking over goalkeeping duties to give Kayleigh a run out of net. This managed to confuse our team as much as Fleetwood, but it was the visitors who capitalised on some confusion in the Bury defence to push a goal past Kristeen and take the lead.
It wasn’t long before Jodie was able to get into her stride from the sub’s bench to storm into the Fleetwood box and earn a penalty after being pulled down on the right. She then converted the penalty, bringing the scores level at 1-1.
Further strong play followed from our girls and after a period of sustained pressure, Sasha, Eloise and Jodie were able to add further goals from a mixture of positions—making the score 4-1 in our favour.
We managed to contain some strong runs from the Fleetwood forwards, whilst also going close ourselves with a couple of attempts off the post, a dramatic ‘air-shot’ from Eloise near the penalty spot and an excellent point-blank save from the Fleetwood keeper. All our girls were brought back into the action during the second half to enhance their match experiences.
The match was played in a very sporting manner and this was once again acknowledged by the referee, Mick, the junior referee mentor from the Bury Referees Association, who officiated on the day.
Our player of the match nominated by the Fleetwood Town Manager, Charlotte, was Eloise for her excellent running in all areas of the pitch and the hard work she put in, getting due reward with a goal of her own in the second half. She took home our new mascot—“Foxy”—as a memory of the day.
Our own player of the match award went to Sasha to reflect her hard work, overall commitment throughout the game and again for rounding it off with a goal.
Thanks to all the Bury parents for bringing the girls along and to Mark Edwards as Assistant Manager and First Aider with Eilish. Thanks also of course to Charlotte, her assistant, parents and the girls from Fleetwood Town for putting on a great match and for traveling such a distance to take part.
Final Score: Bury Girls & Ladies FC 4 Fleetwood Town Girls FC 1
After our first match of the new North Valley League season had to be postponed at our opponent’s request, the Bury girls were raring to go against this weeks’ opposition—the Under 10s squad from Mill Hill Girls FC, who are based in the Blackburn, Lancashire area.
In line with the manager’s strategy recently advised to our squad and their parents ahead of the new season, we had 10 girls in the Bury squad on the day—7 players in the starting line up, with 3 reserves to come on during the match.
The 10 girls attending the match on behalf of Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as follows: -
During the first half, despite having to switch our team around a fair amount due to a couple of injuries, the girls did very well against the experienced girls of the Mill Hill team. We initially went 0-2 down, but managed to pull back one through Courteney before the break—resulting in a very creditable 1-2 score line at half time.
Unfortunately, we began to tire during the early part of the second half and the experience and strength in depth of Mill Hill began to tell.
Kayleigh undertook all goalkeeping duties throughout the match and whilst she achieved some great saves in the face of some strong attacking play from the opposition team, she was left too exposed by her team mates. The final score was 1-7-admittedly a heavy defeat, but not really reflective of the hard work put in by our girls, particularly in the first half of the match.
The match was played in a very sporting manner and this was acknowledged by the referee, Mick, the junior referee mentor from the Bury Referees Association, who officiated on the day.
Our player of the match nominated by the Mill Hill Manager, Kelvin, was Kristeen for her excellent running in all areas of the pitch and the hard work she put in, despite picking up a couple of injuries.
Our own player of the match award went to Jodie to reflect her hard work, strong running and overall commitment throughout the game.
Thanks to all the Bury parents for bringing the girls along, to Mark Edwards as Assistant Manager and First Aider with Eilish. Thanks also of course to Kelvin and the girls from Mill Hill for putting on a great match.
We look forward to trying to turn around the result when we visit Blackburn for the return match across the next couple of months!!
We were recently invited to field a team to face the Under 10s side from Preston North End FC. The match was played at our home ground and we were once again playing a team where most of the girls taking part for Preston were actually in the next school year above our girls.
We had an excellent turnout, with 11 girls attending the match on behalf of Bury Girls & Ladies FC as follows: -
We split the overall game into 3 sections to give plenty of opportunity for breaks on a hot afternoon and to experiment with different formations. Preston could actually only field 6 players due to illness and holiday absence, so it was agreed that we would provide one player from our squad in each of the 3 sections. This ensured that we played in the 7-a-side format that will be used in both sides’ league matches in the coming season and also helped us in not having too many of our own girls as substitutes for each of the ‘games’.
Our thanks go to Sophie, Courteney and Casey for volunteering to play a game in the Preston team during the afternoon.
We did some ‘roll on-roll off’ substitutions to ensure that all the girls kept involved and to give everyone an equal amount of ‘pitch time’. Our new ‘main’ goalkeeper Kayleigh looked after the net in the first two games, whilst Molly completed the goalkeeping duties in the last game—they both did very well against a strong Preston team, particularly as it must be said they were left too ‘exposed’ on a number of occasions, with very little defensive cover.
Results of the three games played on the afternoon were as follows: -
· Bury Girls 0-4 Preston NE
· Bury Girls 0-1 Preston NE
· Bury Girls 2-1 Preston NE
All were closely fought games and enjoyed by all. We were pleased with our results against the generally more experienced girls from Preston and the matches were played in a very sporting manner. All our players did very well, putting lots of effort in on a warm afternoon and they created a number of chances.
Kristeen put away a couple of excellent goals in the final match and this ‘win’ was the least our players deserved for all their hard work. Our player of the match award was given to Kayleigh, who worked very hard on her debut as our main goalkeeper and made a string of important saves, particularly in the second match.
Thanks to all the parents for bringing the girls along, to Manager Ashley and the girls from Preston NE for travelling down to the match and to our main referee for the afternoon, Andrew Taggart. We look forward to getting the chance to have a return match over the next 2-3 months.
We were invited to take part in a ‘round-robin’ 7-a-side friendly match with two local Under 10s sides for the 2009-10 season—Heyside Angels and Denton Town--on 3G Astroturf grass pitches used by Heyside in Royton, near Oldham.
We were once again playing teams that are actually this season’s Under 9s, so most of the girls taking part for the other teams were actually in the next school year above our girls.
The 8 girls attending the match on behalf of Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as follows: -
We did some ‘roll on-roll off’ substitutions to ensure that all the girls kept involved and to give everyone an equal amount of ‘pitch time’. Molly and Casey shared the goalkeeping duties and did very well.
Results of the three games played on the afternoon (only a short time was available overall, as the pitches were in great demand) were as follows: -
· Denton Town 0-4 Heyside Angels
· Bury Girls 0-0 Denton Town
· Heyside Angels 2-0 Bury Girls
All were closely fought games and enjoyed by all. We were pleased with our results against these more experienced teams and the matches were played in a very sporting manner.
All our players did very well, putting lots of effort in on a warm afternoon and they created a number of chances. Our player of the match award was given to Kristeen, who worked very hard on her debut for the team in all parts of the pitch.
Thanks to all the parents for bringing the girls along and thanks also of course to the organisers at Heyside. We look forward to getting the chance to return the favour over the next couple of months.
Click here for photos from the day
20/06/09 Aspull Belles FC V Bury Girls & Ladies FC
Bury Team : Courteney, Nicole, Jade, Molly H, Molly N, Sophie and Katie.
The girls travelled to Aspull on Saturday 20th June for a friendly match. This was Aspull’s first home match. After some great tackles and defending, the game was eventually won by Aspull, by a score of 3-0.
However this did not phase the girls and a team talk by Graeme and Mark whilst the girls enjoyed hotdogs and drinks kindly provided by the away team, whose hospitality and friendship was gratefully received.
Well done to all who took part.
The Match Player for Bury U9’s was Nicole.
14/06/09 Euxton Girls FC V Bury Girls & Ladies FC
Our next friendly match was played away at Euxton (pronounced “Exton”) Girls FC, near Chorley. We played Euxton recently in matches at the Golborne Tournament and had some close games against them.
Like our other recent opponents, Euxton are a squad generally made up of Under 9s players from the 2008-2009 age group, although they did also have some recent new recruits, who were only just getting used to football matches. The team have been playing in the local Wigan ‘development’ league this season.
On this occasion, our Under 9s girls were again joined by a couple of our Under 8s girls, which always helps to give everybody a taste of competitive football. A number of the Under 9s squad were not available for selection, due to clashes with other activities or family obligations.
The girls attending the match from Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as follows: -
The match was divided into 3 “thirds” to give regular breaks and an opportunity to take on drinks and swap players around on a hot afternoon.
We did some ‘roll on-roll off’ substitutions to ensure that all the girls kept involved and to give everyone an equal amount of ‘pitch time’.
After a close fought game, Euxton were the eventual winners 5-3, with Courtney scoring 2 of the Bury goals and with debutant Amy adding the third! Well done to the two of you and to all your team mates for the excellent support given!
On this occasion, we awarded Courtney with our new ‘Player of the Match’ trophy for the Bury Girls-an excellent performance after her illness during the week.
The match was played in a competitive spirit and a very sporting fashion, overseen by a local lady referee, who was very complimentary about the playing standard and sporting nature seen from both sides.
All the girls lined up to shake the hands of their opponents at the end of the game and we rounded the afternoon off with a penalty competition between the Bury Girls—Molly H eventually taking the honours after a ‘sudden-death’ climax with two of her teammates!!
Thanks to manager Chris and the Euxton Girls for hosting the game and for playing it in a very sporting and friendly fashion. We look forward to getting the chance to have a return match in due course.
16/05/09 Bury Girls & Ladies FC V Astley & Tyldesley Girls FC
Our second outing in a friendly match on a grass pitch was played at home (Phillips High School) against an Under 9s Team (2008-2009 age group) from Astley & Tyldesley (“A&T”).
Like our first opponents Aspull, A&T have been playing in a local Wigan ‘development’ league this season and have enjoyed some good success in the matches they have played. They once again provided an excellent test and match experience for all the enthusiastic girls that have been attending our Under 8s training sessions over recent months.
On this occasion, the girls of our newly formed Under 9s squad were again joined by some of the Under 8s girls and some of the youngest girls from our Under 10s section, which helped to give everybody a taste of competitive football and kept the match relatively balanced.
We once again had an excellent turnout for this 7-a-side match.
The girls attending the match from Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as follows: -
We did some ‘roll on-roll off’ substitutions to ensure that all the girls kept involved and to give everyone an equal amount of ‘pitch time’. Whilst the experience of the A&T girls resulted in an eventual score of 7-3 in their favour, the games were well balanced and everyone enjoyed the experience. Aimee, Maisie and Chaela provided the goals for Bury-well done girls!!!
All the girls lined up to shake the hands of their opponents at the end of the game and we then had an exciting penalty shootout competition, where both keepers took it in turns to face penalties from all the outfield players.
All had a great time and appeared to thoroughly enjoy the experience, which will again be of great benefit as they play more matches over the coming months.
Thanks to manager Paul (standing in for Dino) and the A&T girls for travelling down to our ground and for playing the game in a very sporting and friendly fashion. We look forward to getting the chance to have a return match in due course.
02/05/09 Bury Girls & Ladies FC V Aspull Belles FC
Today saw our first outing in a friendly match on a grass pitch—we were playing at home (Phillips High School) against an Under 9s Team (2008-2009 age group) from the Wigan area—the ‘Aspull Belles’.
Aspull have been playing in a local Wigan ‘development’ league this season and have certainly enjoyed some success in the matches they have played. They are looking to join a formal Under 10s league for 2009-2010 and as such, they provided an excellent first test and match experience for all the enthusiastic girls that have been attending our Under 8s training sessions over recent months.
On this occasion, the girls of our newly formed Under 9s squad were joined by some of the girls from our Under 8s section, which helped to give everybody a taste of competitive football. Some girls were away on holiday due to it being a bank holiday weekend, but we still had an excellent turnout for this 7-a-side match. Casey, who has been playing some matches with our Under 10s squad this season, also joined us for this friendly, as she is in Year 3 at the moment.
The girls attending the match from Bury Girls & Ladies FC were as follows: -
Courtney Katie Ella Lizzie Jade Casey
Kayleigh Megan Cody Kiera Jodie Sophie Molly
We divided the match into 4 sections to give plenty of time for breaks and drinks on a hot day and this also gave us the opportunity to try different formations, given we had the luxury of plenty of players to pick from.
We started the game with all our older players ‘outfield’, but with Molly N from the U8s in goal. This gave us a great start and we had a very competitive game, with plenty of action around the pitch. This finished in an exciting 0-0 draw, with all players equally involved and with a particularly fine display from Molly in nets holding the Aspull forwards at bay.
In the second session, all our younger players took the outfield positions and Megan offered to be the goalkeeper. Whilst the experience of the ‘Belles’ resulted in a number of goals being scored for the opposition, Megan did very well to keep out a number of other possible goals during this session.
In the third and fourth sessions, we mixed the players up between the U9s and the U8s and all enjoyed the experience of playing with a variety of their teammates. We did some ‘roll on-roll off’ substitutions to ensure that all the girls kept involved and to give everyone an equal amount of ‘pitch time’. The Belles were still able to score some further goals, but the games were well balanced and everyone enjoyed the experience.
All the girls lined up to shake the hands of their opponents at the end of the game and we then had an exciting penalty shootout competition, where both keepers took it in turns to face penalties from all the outfield players. Casey took on the goalkeeping responsibilities for Bury and did very well during the shootout.
All had a great time and whilst Bury could not quite achieve a goal against the Belles, they thoroughly enjoyed the experience, which will be of great benefit as they play more matches over the coming months.
Thanks to the manager Rob and the Aspull girls for travelling down to our ground and for playing the game in a very sporting and friendly fashion. We look forward to getting the chance to have a return match in due course.
THANKS AS ALWAYS TO ALL THE BURY GIRLS AND THEIR PARENTS FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE CLUB-LET’S ENJOY FOOTBALL TOGETHER!!
Graeme Taggart - Under 9s Manager/Coach
Mark Edwards - Under 9s Assistant Coach