Whitecross Winners for a Second Successive Year

Cardiff City House of Sport was today the host venue for the final stages of the Under 13s Girls Football Tournament run by Cardiff City FC Community and Education Foundation in conjunction with Kinder.

The event sponsored by New Directions Education is part of a national competition run by football league clubs across England and Wales. Last year over 2,000 schools competed for the opportunity to bring back the prestigious Football League Girls Cup to Cardiff.

Whitecross School became this year’s prevailing champions for the second time after a hard fought battle in the final against St John Baptist School from Aberdare.

After a fairly tame first half battle between the two sides, the match was resting at 0-0. Whitecross were just edging the game with side line encouragement from their Manager, Jade Watkins.

As the second half got underway St John Baptist made an early attack with a soaring attempt at goal from a free kick. However, Whitecross kept the pressure on, hitting the woodwork twice.
At the final whistle the game ended 0-0 leading to extra time. St John kicked off the first half with an added intensity to their game. This fast paced, competitive match showcased girl’s football at its very best in schools.

Despite a narrow miss from Whitecross in the second half of extra time, the game ended 0-0, forcing a hard fought penalty shoot-out. Whitecross were the eventual winners with a narrow 5-4 victory. Speaking after the game Team Manager for St John Baptist, Casey Colcombe, said ‘this was a fantastic day for our team, there was some great football played and we were unlucky to finish on penalties’.

Talking about their second successive year winning the competition Whitecross Manager Jade Watkins added ‘we got to this final via penalties after a hard fought semi-final, then for it to go to penalties in the final shows what an excellent standard this competition was played at. This opportunity was great for our team; it’s fantastic to be able to play at a decent standard. Cardiff City and all involved have been wonderful’.

The competition which was played over two days saw over 40 teams from across the region. Angharad Evans, a spokesperson for New Directions Education who sponsor the annually run competition ‘the atmosphere by the time the final took place was electric. It was a really well-played game with both sides showing some exceptional footballing skills. This tournament is all about celebrating sport in our schools, and showcasing the very best our region has to offer. New Directions are always delighted to play such a big part in the competition’.

Whitecross will now go on to a further round to be played in Exeter for the opportunity to play at Wembley next year.