1:30pm Thursday 11th March 2010
By Dick Marshall
SOUTHEND college girls have achieved a notable soccer first.
For the town’s South Essex College of Further and Higher Education ladies’ football team has been crowned regional champions of the British Colleges Sport Participation Cup.
This makes them one of the 16 teams to go through to the national elite finals, the highest level of inter-college football in the UK.
The team took on Cambridge Regional College in a tense final that saw the game decided on penalties. After 90 minutes the score was 2-2, but it was South Essex that triumphed to win 4-3 on spot-kicks.
South Essex College Ladies were very slow in starting and the lack of preparation was clear as Cambridge scored with little effort.
The Southend team began to pile on the pressure creating a chance for Amy Leach, who was brought down and awarded a penalty from which Leah Cowan equalised.
With the confident handling of Hayley Johnson in goal, South Essex stepped up the standard in attack and went 2-0 up when a good ball from defence saw Amy Leach lobbed the keeper.
The second-half started with Cambridge dominating and they had numerous opportunities to convert an equaliser, only to be frustrated by both the South Essex defence and keeper Johnson.
The game was wide open and both teams looked like scoring. However, with 20 minutes to go, Cambridge took advantage of their possession and equalised from a well worked attack.
As the game went into penalties, both Cambridge and South Essex missed their first attempts.
South Essex’s keeper saved another of Cambridge’s chances and the Southend team went on to score four consecutive spot-kicks to come out victorious 4-3.
Sports lecturer and ladies’ team coach, Brad Brooks, said: “Achievements such as winning this trophy and being in the last 16 of the national elite finals will only increase the interest that students have in enrolling on sports courses.
“Being part of a successful, competitive team provides the students with fantastic experiences that often form the highlight of their college lives.”
While six of the elite final teams are regional winners, like the South Essex ladies, 10 of the others have academy sides linked to professional clubs such as Chelsea and Arsenal.
Player of the match Johnson, 17, from Canvey, said: “The pressure did start to get to us because the other team was playing so well, but we pulled through which was down to our team work and communication.
“It was very tense being in goal when we went to penalties, but I just kept focused.
“It was the first time I’ve received player of the match so I was really pleased, but it was a team effort.”
This is a first for the Southend based college as no other female football team from there has won a final in any competition.
The majority of the team is made up of further education students aged 16-19 studying for national diploma in sport and exercise sciences at South Essex College of Further & Higher Education.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/trade_directory/