On Tuesday 11 May, nine Year 7 girls went to Ardingly College for the ISFA (Independent Schools Football Association) South East Regional Qualifier.
There were 15 teams competing in this U13 tournament, meaning we were playing against Year 8s. We arrived at the venue and Dolly Reynolds, team captain, warmed the team up before our first three games. Each game in this tournament/National Qualifier was 12 minutes long so each half was 6 minutes. Our first three games were group stages – we had to win two thirds of our games to go through to the knockout stages in the Quarter-Finals. Firstly, we played Claremont Fan Court School and we won 3-0 and played very well as a team, which was a massive confidence boost for us. Dolly scored one goal and Taylor Warren scored two. In our second match, we won 5-0 against Lambrook, which was a brilliant game, and we were all very excited as now we were through to the first round of knockouts, which were the Quarters-Finals. Taylor scored three goals, Dolly scored one and Naomi Bradley scored one.
Although we were buzzing for the next round, we had to stay focused on our final group stage game against Ardingly, who we knew were going to be the toughest test yet. In this game, we won 2-0 securing our spot in the Quarter-Finals. Taylor grabbed both goals in this game. We had a break before going on to the Quarter-Finals. We ended up winning 3-1 vs Thomas’s Battersea. This was a tough game, but we fought and came out with the result. Dolly and Taylor once again scored a goal each and the third goal was a pass across the pitch by Dolly for Berry Robertson to hit, but the ball deflected, bouncing into the goal. We conceded a goal, but we kept our heads up and got the win. At this point, we were very nervous but also very eager. We now had the Semi-Finals against Alleyns A. We ended up winning 1-0 and it was a very intense game, with Naomi getting the goal. After this, we celebrated getting through to the Finals of the National Qualifiers but, we couldn’t get too ahead of ourselves as we still had to win the Final.
The Surbiton High Year 8 team found themselves in an intense Semi-Final, which went to a penalty shootout, but came through after some excellent penalties and a terrific save from Cait Parfitt. This meant it was an all-Surbiton Final, Year 7 v Year 8, which we were delighted about. We were the first school to get both teams to the Final! It was such a close game, that could have gone either way, but Surbiton Year 7s edged it after a good team goal, scored by Seyi Roluga. The Year 7s sat back and defended after the first goal and ended up winning 1-0. Surbiton High School Year 7 won the National Qualifiers, winning all six games and big credits to our goalie, Isabel Rowe, who only conceded one goal, and the whole team for scoring 15 goals overall!
We had the celebration awards after and won a trophy and we each got a cap also. Well played to the whole Surbiton High Year 7 team, and the Surbiton High Year 8 team too! Both teams now start training before going off to the National Finals, held at the Hertfordshire FA on Wednesday 23 June.
Written by Dolly (7C)
Categories: Senior School