Cumbria County Women's Tournament

Carlisle Women 2s travelled to The Lakes School, Windermere to face a number of strong teams in their pool of the Cumbria County Clubs Tournament. The team consisted of a split of 6 players from last season’s 2s and 6 players who have moved up from the 3s to make their debut so a new team that hadn’t played together before. Also fielding two sets of mother and daughter combinations!

First match was against Keswick 1s, who finished second in the Cumbria League last season and gained promotion to the NW. An end to end game with possession switching quickly, and both teams having opportunities however it was late into the game when Keswick scored from cheeky deflection which wrong footed the keeper. Lost 1-0.

Next up was Ulverston, another experienced team but with youth and speed on our side we created some good attacking situations which led to a run of penalty corners. From one of these a shot was stopped on the line by a defenders foot and a penalty flick awarded, up stepped 13 year old Rebecca Illidge to calmly slot the shot home, giving Carlisle a 1-0 lead. Buoyed up the goal the team clearly wanted more, and the second goal came from Nic Heeley well positioned to slip the ball through the keepers legs. Won 2-0.

Third match was against Kirkby Stephen, which was a mixed 1s and 2s team. Their experience playing at a higher lever was evident however the team stuck to the game plan, continued to work hard and track back. The pressure continued throughout the game and we conceded a couple of goals in quick succession, coming from some quick passing from Kirkby Stephen. A couple more goals come later in the game and finished at 4-0.

The final match was against Penrith, which again was a mix of 1s and 2s. We started well, holding our own against some strong players however a quick break caught us a little unawares at the back and they were 1-0 up. We had a number of good attacks, creating problems for their defence with our quick youngsters, but it wasn’t to be and they scored again in the dieing minutes of the game. Lost 2-0.
Team;
Niamh Connolly
Jess Hetherington
Jess Evans
Kath Illidge
Nic Heeley
Jen Bale
Debutants
Debs Dunning
Rose Dunning
Rebecca Illidge
Rebecca Blaylock
Lauren Bell
Jessica Mason