The under 12 girls turned up bright and early at Chelmsford to play in what was effectively a triangular tournament with the hosts and Blue Hornets. Crostyx had 3 debutantes playing, and also did not have a dedicated goalkeeper due to a late pull out. Half the Crostyx squad was U11 or even U10, so there was a considerable size differential with some girls, however what the girls lacked in physicality, they more than made up for in grit and determination.

Club Coach Steve Ashton very kindly took control of the girls, and although the first match against Blue Hornets, Crostyx were caught cold, and the lack of a goalkeeper showed eventually as Hornets won 3-0. However, galvanised by words from the coach, and a strategy to use the extra outfield player to transfer the ball to the right to attack, the second game against Chelmsford saw strong defending by Tabitha Cearns and Kate Dempsey, which enabled Kiera Murphy in midfield to make good yards, for the attacking duo of Charlotte Peters and Katie Vallance to cause havoc in the opposition’s D. Mia Malik put in a sensational performance in midfield, breaking down many attacks, and there was fearless defending by Jemima Cearns and Freya Murphy, despite both being half the size of the opposition. Chelmsford did score first, but Crostyx began to apply coach’s words, and ran out 3-1 winners.

Chelmsford provided the opposition again in game 3, and Crostyx were now up and running, with some excellent finishing providing a 2-0 win. The final game was against Blue Hornets, but this was a very different match to the first, as Crostyx surged in to a 1-0 lead, Blue Hornets did manage to equalise, but Crostyx scored again to lead 2-1. As the final whistle blew, Hornets did score, and after a little conference the result was declared a 2-2 draw. However the girls had played brilliantly, with smiles on their faces and no shortage of skill. It was a great start for the first tournament of the year.