Double cup delight for Gaywood girls

It turned into a morning to remember for Gaywood Girls last weekend with teams from the club clinching the silverware in both the Under-12 and Under-14 Mid Norfolk Youth League Cup Finals.Basking in glorious sunshine at Clenchwarton, the first match of the day saw Gaywood take on Watlington in the Under 12 competition.More than 200 spectators watched on and supported both teams loudly throughout, but it was Gaywood who were out of the traps quickly applying wave after wave of early pressure.That pressure eventually told just inside 10 minutes, when they went ahead with a low strike into the bottom corner from Ellie Wright.Going a goal behind acted as a wake-up call to the Watlington players, and they rallied impressively.They got their reward a few minutes before the break when player-of-the-match Tia Rowland reacted first to turn in the rebound having seen her initial effort well saved.Into the second period, both sides had chances in a very even contest. It was Gaywood who were to get their noses ahead once again though, with an Erin Frost finish.Watlington pushed for their second equaliser of the game with several corners and long throws as time ultimately ran away from them, and with their opposition always looking dangerous on the break. A pulsating affair ended giving Gaywood the honours with their 2-1 victory.In the Under 14 age group it was Terrington Tigers turn to take on Gaywood.Almost in an exact reverse of the morning’s earlier game, it was this time the Terrington girls that looked to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, opening the scoring with a strong low strike before the general play evened out. The Gaywood equaliser came with 30 minutes on the clock, with a long-range free-kick evading everyone to find the back of the net and make it 1-1 at half time.They retained the impetus into the second period and put themselves ahead for the first time in the contest with a close-range finish at the back post. In a frantic period of play, it was first Terrington’s turn to equalise.Their elation quickly turned to despair when Gaywood re-gained their goal advantage almost straight from the re-start when player-of-the-match, Miley Rose Webber managed to touch the ball past the on-rushing goalkeeper, allowing her to roll into the now unguarded net. Terrington gave it everything to take the final to penalties but were unable to make their late pressure count, with Gaywood holding on for the 3-2 victory and the club’s second piece of silverware of the morning.The goals for the Tigers came through Taylor Baker and Summer Ringer, with Gaywood’s from the feet of Everleigh Defty and Eryn Mersseman. It was a fantastic morning of football across the two games, with the results in the balance right up to the final whistle in both.The MNYL would like to congratulate all three clubs who were involved on the day, which was their just dessert for everything they have put into the development of girl’s football in the area.