West Ham United are officially the best Under 16s girls team in the Country after achieving glory as Essex’s representatives in the National Finals of the Tesco Cup, winning a highly-charged final at Derby County FC’s Pride Park Stadium.
Jim Maycock’s side overcame Cambridge City last Sunday to cap a tremendous run which has led them from the inaugural Essex Under 16s Girls Cup Final at Burnham Ramblers FC in March to Bolton Wanderers’ magnificent Reebok Stadium, where they will compete with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom title this weekend.
The Tesco Cup is part of a wider commitment from the supermarket chain to encourage children to get involved in sport. Now in its fifth year, Tesco works in conjunction with The FA and local communities to help improve the skills of young players. As well as the Hammers at Under 16s Girls level, Writtle Minors Girls competed on Essex’s behalf in the Under 14s while Buckhurst Hill were entered into the Under 13s boys category.
West Ham’s success in the inaugural Essex Under 16s Girls Cup earned them the right to represent the County in the Tesco Cup, starting with the Southern England Regional Finals at Putney on Saturday 17th April. The Hammers topped Group Two with a 100 per cent record, without conceding, as they disposed of Tottenham Hotspur from London, 1-0, then achieved an identical win against Wealdstone of Middlesex.
They hit top gear with a 3-0 demolition of Hertfordshire-based St Albans City and finished-off their group games with a defeat of Hampshire side AFC Dynamo by two goals to nil. Another 2-0 victory in the overall final against Kent outfit Hugin Vikings saw them collect medals from ex-England international Ray Parlour as regional champions, resulting in the chance to face Manchester City in the national semis at Pride Park.
Having beaten City 1-0 in a competitive game, they then faced Cambridge in the final and were crowned champions after winning that match 3-0. Derby striker Rob Hulse attended the event and chose talented player Shadai Miller from West Ham as the Player of the Tournament to accompany the identical acclaim she received in the regional finals.
The Hammers will now travel to the Reebok where they will face Welsh champions Cardiff City in the semi-final to earn the right to meet either Scottish winners Hibernian or Northern Irish reps Sion Swifts in the UK final. Manager Jim Maycock was beaming with joy afterwards, commenting: “We’re absolutely delighted as it’s the best competition out there for girls and they’ve done themselves, the club and the County proud. They’ve worked so hard and going to the UK finals is nothing short of what they deserve.”
Writtle were the local reps in the Under 14s Tesco Girls Cup and made a promising start as they overcame Kent side Meridian Girls by a slim 1-0 margin. In a depleted group due to one county not being involved, Middlesex’s Queens Park Rangers won the next match by the odd goal in three and, despite Writtle winning 1-0 against Eastbourne Girls from Sussex, it was QPR who topped the group and beat Spurs in the overall final.
Having prevailed in the Cordell Cup Final in March, Buckhurst Hill earned the right to compete at the Tesco Under 13s Southern England Regionals at the same time as the girls in Putney. They faced four ‘round robin’ group games and started strongly by winning 2-0 against Hertfordshire’s Tornado Junior Sports Club, then putting themselves firmly in the frame with a 1-0 victory over Wealdstone. Unfortunately they picked-up just one point from their last two games against AFC Newbury (Berks & Bucks) and AFC Trojans (Hampshire), finishing narrowly behind overall runners-up Wealdstone.
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