FOOTBALL GIRLS

1st Xi

Squad

Captain: S. Derby (M)

G. Atherley (G), H. Barker (M),

M. Barker (M), R. Bowman (M),

M. Broderick (F), I. Chihota (G),

G. Darby (G), A. Green (A), S. Haines (M),

C. Hennessy (F), M. Hinds (M),

V. Mackrill (G), S. Payne (A),

E. Porter (G), M. Rose (G), I. Turton (A),

A. Tverdokhlebova (F)

Also played: K. Butler (G),

A. Clarkson (F), E. Walne (F),

M-J. Waters (8M), A. Williams (M)

After an unbeaten run in the ISFA Midlands league last season, we were very much looking forward to maintaining our success and continuing to grow our girls’ football programme. With the addition of a few new faces over the summer, our squad had strengthened even more, and we were raring to go. Michaelmas is always the tricky term for our footballers as we continue to balance alongside other sporting commitments, but lots of girls had chosen football as their main option and two members of our 1st XI squad were representing local professional club Derby County Women in their junior pathway.

The competitive season was quickly upon us with in the form of the English Schools Football Association (ESFA) Cup. With a bye in the first round, we started with a solid 2-0 victory over The Beckett School in the second.

As a birthday present for 1st XI coach Miss Holder, Molly R and Grace D got the two important goals to send us through to Round 3. Later in the month the Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) Cup kicked off with a 9-1 victory against Shrewsbury seeing us comfortably into the hat for the next round. Despite the lack of contact time as a full squad, things seemed to be shaping up nicely, heading into future rounds of the cups and our league fixtures. However, our first defeat of the season came in the County Cup round-robin where we fell to Friesland School on a wet and windy day, memorable only for the debut of the first ever maroon shirt for girls’ football. Just before the Christmas break, we bounced back in this competition and finished 2022 strong with a 5-2 over Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Ashbourne.

Lent Term came around and our contact time as a squad increased significantly, now training together four times a week. We welcomed B Blockers Emily W and Amelie C. Representing professional clubs Leicester City U16s and Dery County U14s respectively, it was great to welcome such depth of talent into the squad. The competitive football kicked off again straight away with a 4-0 victory away from home against Uppingham in Round 2 of the ISFA Cup. A bullet header from new student Ashleigh G got us going and then a controlled performance gifted us the vital win. Success continued for our squad, our first ISFA Midlands League game seeing debuts for young players Emily and Amelie and an emphatic win over Rugby. The league looked to be going strong until a challenging period later in the term. Injury to our talented regular centre-back Gemma A, busy external programmes for our club players, and continued hockey/ netball commitments resulted in a challenging away day at Oundle. With the bare bones of eleven players, it was a very tough ask for our 1st XI. Despite going 1-0 down, after a resilient second half performance we found ourselves

2-1 up with a minute to go. A lastminute corner to Oundle, a penalty box full of bodies and unfortunately a late equaliser held us to a draw. But this was a remarkable performance from the team and a very proud moment to reflect on in difficult circumstances.

We were within touching distance of an ESFA Quarter-Final spot before going down to a narrow defeat against Brookvale Groby. We did go one better in the ISFA Cup, earning a tough Quarter-Final draw against last year’s champions Rossall. With our opponents fielding players who also represent Manchester City, it was a tough ask for our squad and a 6-0 defeat meant we exited our final cup competition. Despite the disappointment, a 0-0 second half performance was a great positive to take away from the game and the level of the Rossall team showed us what we are aspiring to achieve in the coming years.

With cup silverware out of the picture, our full focus was to become ISFA Midlands League champions. This came right down to the wire with our last game of the season: a winner-takes-all showdown against Uppingham who we had already defeated in a fine performance from last time out. Unfortunately, despite an impressive debut from another of our youngsters, Year 8 pupil Millie Jean W, it was not meant to be, and a narrow 1-0 loss handed the league to Uppingham.

The improvement in the squad has been significant. With exciting young players coming through and many of our current crop of talented players still in school next season, we are in a strong position moving forward. With the addition of some new recruits over the summer we are very excited about the direction in which our Football programme is heading. There have been several outstanding individual performers this season but a mention must go to Murren B who has been the rock of the team; her resilience and bravery, as well as much improvement on her own game, technically, tactically, and physically, has carried us forward. Also it has been another great season for our Captain Sophie D: a big thank you to her and to Vice-Captain Grace D for leading the team and driving everyone to be better. For the leavers, I can’t thank you enough for your effort, application, and time. It has been a pleasure and I hope you continue to play football beyond Repton.

MLH