A Brooke Dyke wonder goal sent Brent on their way to victory in their hotly-contested Regents Park Youth league fixture against Highgate Wood.
The heavy rain and cold temperature did not deter either team from producing a superb contest which started very evenly. However, Brent made a breakthrough after 15 minutes.
Dyke collected the ball on the half way line and in a dribble similar to Maradona’s famous goal against England, Dyke jinked and dribbled past six players before firing the ball into the corner of the net. Reflecting the good spirit in whic the game was played, both sets of coaching staff and fans watching supporting both sides applauded and cheered having witnessed a truly special goal.
Going ahead gave Brent the upper hand; Maia Fox was marauding down the right wing taking up good positions but Brent couldn’t find the final pass to her. Brent skipper Holly Palmer spurred on the midfield as Brent began to get on top. Highgate fought back and began to impose themselves, getting their reward when they were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half time. Brent’s keeper Pele made a fine save but the Highgate striker made no mistake, pouncing on the rebound to level the score at 1-1.
The second half was action-packed straight from the whistle. Again, exchanges were even before another moment of pure quality gave Brent the lead. They scored a great team goal, started by goalkeeper Meg Ingram who passed a goal kick to Scarlett Hun. Hun quickly found Evie Roe on the right wing. Roe passed inside to Megan Deards who found debutant Zoey De Sousa Mantas, whose clever pass found Dyke. Dyke unselfishly slipped the ball to Kate Fox on the overlap and Fox fired into the net with the outside of her right foot. It was a superb example of working the ball through the team.
The goal seemed to spurred Highgate Wood on. They broke on the counter attack and only a smart save by Meg Ingram kept Brent in front. This chance led to Highgate enjoying their best spell of the game, piling on the pressure, but Liv MacArthur in central defence alongside Pele Fakahau and Scarlett Hunn fought like super heroes defending the lead.
The game was still very open until Dyke gained possession on the edge of the box, did another jinky run then unleashed a rocket shot into the roof of the net. Tashelle Redwood was introduced to shore up the midfield and made a great block to keep the score at 3-1 before Dyke completed the scoring, clinching her hat-trick with another mazy dribble and thunderbolt shot which the Highgate ‘keeper bravely parried only for the ball to roll agonisingly into the net.
Brent coach Chris Ampofo remarked afterwards: “Wow! What a fantastic game. I congratulated the players on both teams. The team worked their socks off for each other and defended brilliantly and what an incredible hat-trick from Brooke. I’m so proud of all of them”
Squad: Brooke Dyke, Evie Roe, Holly Palmer, Kate and Maia Fox, Megan Deards, Scarlett Hunn, Meg Ingram, Olivia Macarthur Pele Fakahau, Tashelle Redwood, Zoey De Sousa Mantas.
Brent next face Regents Park on 22 May.
Under-11 Girls edge past Park
Brent Under-11 girls rounded off an excellent weekend for the Association, winning 1-0 win at Regents Park. Eabha Kennedy scored the only goal of a tight game.