U15 Girls Inter-Regional Tournament 2012

 

With a 10.00 kick-off to the day's events at Toryglen it was decided to play the Final first so that everybody could have relatively easy travelling arrangements.  South-East v. West was a repeat of last year's final and the South-East girls took the trophy for the second year in succession.

 

Four goals in the first half put South-East in control of the game but West fought back well and made a real game of it in the second half to treat the crowd to an entertaining final.  

 

South-East repeated last year's form with a whirlwind start and seemed to score with every attack while West performed well but could only strike the frame of the goal.  Alyshia Walker opened the scoring in the 4th minute, 1-0, and doubled her tally three minutes later, 2-0. Each goal seemed to be better than the previous and South-East looked to be in control with a cracker from Brogan Anderson in the 17th minute, 3-0, and then Leah Tweedie beat the West defence in the 24th minute to give West a mountain to climb in the second half, 4-0.

 

After the interval the game was end to end with neither side dominant and then midway through the half a penalty for a tackle just inside the box gave West some hope. Megan Mason slotted the penalty away, 4-1. A couple of minutes later Megan Mason hit a great strike from outside the box to reduce the leeway further, 4-2.

 

There were chances for both teams in the last quarter but South-East's early goalrush proved too much of an obstacle for a West comeback and when the next chance was saved it seemed South-East would hold on.  Leah Tweedie had a late chance to add another for the champions but could not take advantage so a highly entertaining game finished with a 4-2 win for South-East. At the end of the match SSFA Vice President Gordon Pate presented medals to all the players and the trophy to South-East.   

 

The second game featured the two teams placed third in the two leagues, Central and East.  

 

East tried hard but could not really make any headway against an impressive all-round performance from Central who controlled the game from start to finish.  The maroons took an early lead and never looked back.  With only six minutes on the clock Carla Jackson took the ball on the halfway line and outpaced the East defence before unleashing a 15-yard strike to make it 1-0. East looked for an equaliser when Cara Black cut through the defence but Murren Stevenson saved her attempt. With Georgie Rafferty outstanding in midfield it was only a matter of time before Central scored again, and in the 17th minute Carla Jackson broke down the left wing to shoot low inside the near post, 2-0.  Cara Black and Amy Gallacher tried to respond for the East but did not really trouble the Central defence.

 

Central increased their efforts as the game entered the last quarter and Helena Montague had a low drive saved. With ten minutes left a Central corner from the right was not cleared and Eilidh Flockhart walloped the ball into the net at the near post from 5 yards, 3-0. With the final whistle about to blow Carla Jackson grabbed her well-deserved hat-trick with a superb rocket shot from outside the area to make the final score 4-0. 

 

The last game was between the teams who had finished second in their groups after the recent league matches.  The lunchtime kick-off allowed the girls from as far apart as Dumfries and Fortrose to arrive in good time.  North took an early lead with a goal from Magdalene Dolman in the 4th minute, 0-1. South-West equalised in the 12th minute through Kirsty Howat, 1-1, and Karen Bailey scored from the penalty spot in the 17th minute to put South-West 2-1 up.

 

South-West went further ahead three minutes later through Haylie Sinclair, 3-1 (20 m) but Rachel McLauchlan reduced the deficit, 3-2 (23 m).

 

Not to be outdone South-West scored two more to give them control.  Alex Middleton struck in the 26th minute, 4-2, and another penalty this time converted by Erin Cuthbert pushed the score up to 5-2, (30 m). Rachael Brown pulled one back for the North, 5-3 (35 m) and after a comparative lull the South-West girls finished the scoring for the day with a goal from Kristiana Hamilton in the 49th minute to make the final score 6-3.

 

 

Final placings :

1st - South-East                    2nd - West                        3rd - South-West 

4th - North                             5th - Central                     6th - East