Gainsborough & District Primary Schools’ Sports Association held their annual seven-a-side girls football competition in partnership with the English Schools’ Football Association.
With four teams all containing some girls who play competitive weekend football in the local area; Lea, Benjamin Adlard, Charles Baines and winners for the last six years in a row, Parish, the expectations were set for a great evening of football.
The games of seven minutes each way, under the TGA floodlights, gave the girls plenty of time to show off their impressive skills.
The four teams played each other in a round robin competition to see which team would lift the much sort after trophy! The football was of a really high quality and shows how girls football in the area has come on leaps and bounds.
Finally the results were announced, Benjamin Adlard and Lea were commended on their performances before Charles Baines were presented with medals for coming second. The trophy and winners medals went to Parish who had won all three of their games, conceding one goal all evening.
Thanks were given by organiser, referee and Parish teacher John Anderson to the other referee Cheryl Smith, the schools involved, footballers, spectators and TGA for the use of the astro-turf.
Parish now go through to the Lincolnshire Finals in Skegness at the end of January 2019 to represent the Gainsborough area. It will not be the end of schools’ football for some of the girls from the other schools’ teams either, as a number of the players on show impressed the watching coaches and will be selected to attend individual trials in February next year.
From these trials a Gainsborough Girls representative football team will be chosen again to play in a national competition in Sheffield in March 2019.
Parish also took the opportunity to travel to Lincoln to take part in the North of Lincoln tournament straight after their latest success. The standard was even higher for this tournament and although they started slowly they began to play better football and finished a very creditable 3rd place.