Brent U10 Girls 2-0 United Dragons
Brent’s Under-10 girls started 2022 by achieving their first win of the season, a stunning 2-0 victory over United Dragons in a cup-tie at Regents Park. In freezing cold, rainy conditions on a muddy pith the girls put on a superb display.
The game started very evenly with both teams pressing for the first goal. The Dragons burst through but Daisy Staniford and Ruby Cooper combined well in defence to stop the attack. Brent began to grow into the game and Eva Carnevale dribbled through and shot narrowly wide of the far post.
Brent broke the deadlock when Grace Billingsley gained possession and passed to Sylvie Purdon who threaded the ball to Syrie Dunham. Dunham jinked past her marker and smashed the ball into the net.
Isla Fraser and Shreeya Gustave-Patel were brought on to provide fresh legs and they made an instant impact when Fraser won the ball and passed to Shreeya who burst through the midfield and slipped the ball to Dunham. Dunham dribbled into the box and coolly fired into the corner of the net to score her second and the first half ended 2-0 to Brent.
At half time, Brent brought on Annie Jaeger in midfield and moved Shreeya to shore up the defense and the second half burst into life straight from the restart. Dragons piled on the pressure but good work from Isobel Balch and the combination of Shreeya and Cooper defending brilliantly limited their opportunities.
Carnevale and Dunham were a constant threat and caused Dragons all sorts of problems as Brent pressed for the all-important next goal. Dragons broke and Brent keeper Lois Ampofo made a great diving save. Then, with Brent attacking, Dragons broke on the counter attack and with the striker sprinting into the box Ampofo bravely dived at their feet and smothered the ball preventing an almost certain goal. It was end to end stuff as both teams showed great spirit and when the final whistle came Brent celebrated their first-ever win.
Brent coach Doug Cooper commented afterwards: “Today was a superb performance by the girls, who battled right from the start in order to get this result. The hard work from training is starting to pay off.”
Brent squad: Annie Jaeger, Daisy Staniford, Eva Carnevale, Grace Billingsley, Isla Fraser, Isobel Balch, Lois Ampofo, Ruby Cooper, Shreeya Gustave-Patel, Sylvie Purdon, Syrie Dunham