The first game of the day saw Laurel Park take on Fleet Town. This was a very even game, with most of the time consisting of a midfield battle, with a lot of tackles being made by Sakeena, Alishba and Amelia, winning the ball back and passing forward to the ever energetic Tia upfront. Tia was unlucky with a number of shots, which the fleet goalkeeper did well to keep out. At the other end, Amelia was a very confident defender, stopping most breakaways coming her way, and when she couldn’t stop Fleet herself, Heidi was there in goal to make some acrobatic saves. The game was decided though by an unfortunate deflection with broke the way of Fleet Town right in front of Heidi’s goal, allowing the opposition forward to slot the ball away neatly. Laurel Park - Fleet Town -

The girls went into the second game wanting to make up for lost time and started quickly against the Thatcham Tornadoes. Heidi was very full of running looking to break away as often as she could, well supported by Alishba who very nearly latched onto a loose ball near the Thatcham goal. Tia and Amelia marshalled the defence well, yet again producing a solid defensive display. On the odd occasion that Thatcham tornadoes were able to break through, Sakeena would not be beaten in the Laurel Park goal. Some late runs and shots from Heidi in the last few moments nearly won the game at the end, but ultimately, the game finished a goalless draw.
Laurel Park - Thatcham Tornadoes -

Up next was Wargrave Lions, in another closely contested game. Both teams created plenty of chances, coming close with some good shots just going wide. Alishba led the line very well, holding the ball up to bring Tia and Heidi into the game who were able to bring the ball forward, allowing very good shooting opportunities for both Tia and Heidi, who were unlucky to score. A rare run forward by a Wargrave attacker saw a momentary mix up at the back though, resulting in an unlucky own goal to put the Starz opponents in front. The response though was fantastic. With Sakeena bringing the ball out of defence well dribbling the whole pitch. The chances flowed for the Starz in the latter stages and some good passing between Tia, Alishba and Heidi resulted in Heidi firing Laurel Park level. They didn’t stop there though, as Sakeena kept her runs going and was unlucky to see the ball go behind for a goal kick, but from the goal kick, Heidi was first onto it and fired a fierce shot which smashed the post. The Starz so close to what would have been a deserved win.
Laurel Park - Wargrave Lions -

Wanting to end the day on a positive note, the Starz went into the game against Thatcham Town wanting to make sure they finished on a high. And this was transferred into the performance, which saw Thatcham town totally blown away. Sakeena’s powerful dribbling, teamed with Tia’s excellent runs and Amelia’s good approach play saw lots of chances created before Sakeena dribbled her way to goal to fire the Starz in front. A second quickly followed as Heidi ran up from the back to latch onto a Tia pass to score well into the bottom corner. Amelia then got in on the act as she dribbled half the length of the pitch before seeing her first shot blocked, but quickly reacted to score at the second attempt. At the other end, Alishba kept the opposition out with some smart saves, to maintain the Laurel Park clean sheet. Sakeena then got her second firing past the helpless Thatcham goalkeeper before Heidi wrapped up the scoring after winning the ball high up the pitch.
Laurel Park - Thatcham Town -

A slow start to the day but a strong finish for the Starz saw the day end with some massive smiles on the faces of the girls. Every girl got a special mention. Ameilia’s defensive positioning and tackling were fantastic, Tia’s attacking runs and energy were constant, Heidi was persistent in attack as always with some very good goals and Alishba, for someone who was playing their first games, really grew in confidence as the day went on, with some good passes and was unlucky to score. Girly of the day though, for her powerful runs and overall play throughout the day was Sakeena.