Guthlaxton 4 – 0 Bosworth

Guthlaxton U16 girls completed their most successful season ever with a fine 4-0 victory over Bosworth in the League Cup final.

After winning all 5 of their group matches, conceding just 1 goal in the process, they fully deserved their place in the final against Bosworth, a repeat of the County Cup final in which Guthlaxton claimed a 1-0 victory.

Both teams started brightly, but it soon became clear Guthlaxton were to dominate. Within minutes speedy winger Kathryn Reynolds won a corner. Captain Jade McLaurin delivered a fantastic cross which Megan Downes met with a powerful header. The header itself deserved a goal, but the Bosworth keeper somehow kept the ball out. Amy Woodford was the first to react, pouncing on the loose ball to score giving Guthlaxton the early advantage. Bosworth came back looking to create chances of their own but the defence of McLaurin, Downes, Lydia Morris and Olivia Crowe easily cleared any danger, giving keeper Zara Cook little to do. With midfielders Tammy Copp and Megan Burnside easily controlling the midfield, Guthlaxton started to put together a number of good moves.

Striker Kayleigh Butlin was linking well with the other players, creating space and more opportunities. After 10 minutes they were rewarded as the superb Heather Stuart found space on the right. Stuart drove into the box, finishing neatly past the keeper making it 2-0. Guthlaxton continued to push forward, with Copp, Butlin and Reynolds all having chances. Eventually the pressure paid off. A Reynolds cross was blocked which fell back to Burnside. Burnside skipped past one player before delivering a deep ball to the far post. Stuart met the ball perfectly with her right foot, bagging her second of the game and putting Guthlaxton 3-0 ahead.

At half time Guthlaxton changed to a more attacking 3-5-2 formation pushing McLaurin into midfield to have more of an impression on the game. This allowed Copp to push further forward and create more chances. Substitute Jade Lyons again linked up well with Butlin to create a number of chances for them both. Space was created for Butlin to fire a powerful shot at goal from the edge of the box. The ball ricocheted against the cross bar falling just beyond the Guthlaxton players following in. Stuart came close to get getting her hat-trick on a number of occasions, but selflessly passed to Copp who was unfortunate not to capitalise. Substitutes Megan Footman and Amy Thorpe slotted easily into their positions looking comfortable and confident on the ball. Finally Butlin’s hard work paid off with 10 minutes remaining. Work by Lyons saw the ball fall to Butlin who made no mistake with a fierce shot from 10 yards out. In the final seconds, Stuart looked certain to get her hat-trick, but shot just wide of the post as the final whistle was blown.

A fantastic season for the girls, winning both the County Cup and League Cup, not to mention completing the season with a 100% record and conceding only 2 goals in the process.

Miss Kaur

Published on Thursday 13th May 2010 at 09:00