Westlands School win local finals of Football League Girls Cup
Last week our Community Trust team hosted the Local Finals of The Football League U13 Girls Cup.
The competition gives schools in Kent the opportunity to compete in a Nationwide Tournament which culminates in the final being played at Wembley before the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final in April.
We had huge interest in the tournament from schools all across Kent and many had been in training since last year’s tournament, with the hope of emulating last year’s winners.
The event was held Strood Sports Centre in Strood and a huge thank you goes to them for their help and hospitality throughout the day.
The group stages kicked-off in perfect football weather and all of games were played in a respectful manor. MidKent College sports students had volunteered to be the officials on the day and were joined by the clubs Community coaches.
Once the group stages were complete and the results finalised the 8 schools progressing through to the Quarter-Finals were revealed.
The quarter-finals saw Harris Academy Falconwood v Highworth Grammar, Westlands School v Rainham School for Girls, Saint Georges CofE School v Highsted Grammar School and Rainham Mark Grammar v Charles Darwin School.
As expected the quarter-finals were very tight and saw Harris Academy Falconwood and Saint Georges CofE School progress to the Semi-finals by a narrow 2-1 margin win. Rainham Mark Grammar had a tight encounter with Charles Darwin which saw Charles Darwin advance on penalties after a close 2-2 draw.
The final team moving into the Semi-finals were Westlands School after a 4-0 win.
The semi-finals were again very close with Westlands narrowly beating Harris Academy 2-1 to see them through to the final while Charles Darwin progressed through to the final beating Saint Georges CofE School on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
The final proved to be a very close game. With both sides battling hard to become the champion and playing some fantastic football, it went to the wire.
At the final whistle it was a draw and went to sudden death penalties. After a dramatic penalty shootout Westlands School came through as winners. Emma Tune, a Gillingham Ladies 1st team player, was on hand to present the winners with their Pennant and pose for pictures.
Westlands School now go on to represent Gillingham Football Club at the Area Finals to be hosted by Southend FC, week commencing 11th January, with the chance to win themselves a trip to the Regional Finals, so good luck!
A huge thank you to all the teams, players, countless teachers, staff members, parents and supporters, MidKent students, community coaches and Strood Sports Centre who all helped to make the day a great success. And congratulations again to Westlands School!