Carnevale brace clinches League Title
The Brent Under-14 Girls secured the Capital Girls League Division 2 championship with a gritty performance away to Regents Park.
In an excellent advertisement for girls’ football, both sides managed to play some excellent football in spite of the windy conditions and bumpy pitch.
Brent started slowly, finding it difficult to get their passing game going. Regents Park put the pressure on in the early exchanges but captain Keely Dibley-Dias, working with Elizabeth Ulusele and Sophie Kew in defence, showed the solid resistance that has been key to Brent’s success in recent years. After weathering the storm, Brent regained their composure and started to move the ball well. After 10 minutes, Laiba Mir collected the ball in midfield and passed to Apollonia Margetson. Margetson burst through the Regents Park line and slipped the ball to striker Scout Waddington who unselfishly passed to Giuseppina Carnevale on the overlap. Carnevale cut inside and unleashed a trademark right foot curling shot into the top corner.
Regents Park reacted well and piled on the pressure. Brent goalkeeper Emily Danicka made a superb fingertip save to keep Brent in front but the home side weren’t to be denied and equalised with a long range shot just before half time.
The second half was an end to end contest as both teams went into all-out attack mode. Maya Rosenberg and Tirion Lewis were brought on to introduce some fresh legs into Brent’s lineup and both were involved in the creation of a fine goal that Lewis blasted into the net.
The goal seemed to spur on Regents Park but the pace of Olivia Henry and Maddie Muir started to cause the home side problems. Neat interplay saw Chloe O’Donoghue pass to Muir and her clever pass released Waddington to race through the defence before unleashing an unstoppable thunderbolt into the net to put Brent 3-1 ahead. It was no more than Brent deserved.
Regents Park continued to battle bravely but a moment of quality sealed the match when Ugomma Ekendu-Obi’s slick pass found Margetson in midfield. Margetson controlled the ball then split the defense with an inch prefect pass for Giuseppina Carnevale to sprint onto; Carnevale hit a powerful drive, giving the ‘keeper no chance. 4-1.
After the match, Brent coach Chris Ampofo said: “I’m very proud of the team. The pandemic has made this a challenging year like no other. I am so happy that the players have been rewarded for their hard work and great team spirit. They deserve it.”
Squad: Apollonia Margetson, Brianna John-Etiko, Elizabeth Ulusele, Keely Dibley-Dias (capt), Ugomma Ekendu-Obi, Tirion Lewis, Chloe O’Donoghue, Sophie Kew, Laiba Mir, Maddie Muir, Maya Rosenberg, Olivia Henry, Scout Waddington, Laiba Mir, Giuseppina Carnevale.
Pictures by Steve Toddington
Brent next face Pitshanger at Capital City Academy on 12 June.