FALLIBROOME High School’s Under-15 girls football team swept away almost all before them in the English Schools’ championship.
The team enjoyed an outstanding season, the highlights being an 8-2 victory over Blessed Thomas and disposing of Cumbrian school Nelson Thomlinson 2-0 in the earlier rounds of the ESFA tournament.
This allowed them to progress to the semi-final which was played at Macclesfield Town’s Moss Rose where they came from a goal down to beat Thomas Telford 2-1 in a closely-fought encounter.
The girls had exceeded expectations in reaching the finals in such a prestigious competition and had a memorable day on the south coast.
The final was held at Exeter City FC’s St James’ Park stadium and the girls were flown down to Exeter for a pre-match tour of the ground before the hard work began.
Their opposition were Tideway school from Newhaven, Brighton, a strong team who themselves had pulled off some high-scoring results in previous rounds.
The game was closely contested, Fallibroome taking the lead through Helen Moyes and creating some great chances.
However, Tideway fought back and equalised with a well-taken goal.
The game went into extra time with the score at 1-1, and although Fallibroome battled extremely hard for a crucial winner, injuries to key players changed the balance of the game.
A penalty was awarded to Tideway following a fast break from their attack, which gave Tideway a 2-1 win.
The team were a great credit to the school and have surpassed all expectations to become the English Schools’ runners-up.
