The Under-12 Boys (above) had mixed fortunes over the course of a busy weekend. On Saturday, a Representative squad travelled to Chase Lodge, for a match against Barnet Schools’ FA. The home side edged an excellent contest, running out 2-1 winners. However, the U12 Boys bounced back on Sunday, winning 4-1 at Explorers to progress into the Second Round of the Middlesex FA’s Dudley Harper U12 Cup.The squad will travel to Hendon Youth in the next stage of the tournament.
The Under-13 Girls also played a Representative Match away to Barnet. The Brent squad were playing 11-a-side football for the first time and played their part in an excellent contest. While there were a number of excellent performances among the Brent ranks, Barnet eventually claimed a 2-0 victory.
The Under-11 Boys were also on their travels, taking on Barking & Dagenham in a Representative Match. The home team were very strong and ultimately outgunned Brent to claim a 6-2 win.
The Under-9 Girls were handed a tough test in the Regent’s Park Youth League against the Under-10 girls from London Eagles. The Eagles coaches recognised both the age difference between the teams and the development aspect of the fixture and invited Brent to field 8 players to their 7.
Brent started brightly and a number of passing moves unleashed pacy striker Cora Calder and the ever enthusiastic Bee Mitchell. However, the strength and greater experience of the Eagles defenders helped them to snuff out Brent’s attacks. At the other end, skillful play helped Eagles to go 2-0 ahead but to their credit, Brent’s players didn’t let their heads drop and took the game to their opponents. Dogged tacking from “midfield general” Amelie Corenbloom and a box-to-box performance from Sophia Ridley-Swettenham kept Brent in the game. This led to a good chance midway through the first half. Linking up with Corenbloom, the dynamic Myla Pool unleashed a long-range shot which went narrowly wide.
The older team from London Eagles did enjoy long periods of dominance, subjecting Brent to wave after wave of attacks. The indomitable Sofia d’Avanzo put in a tenacious, determined and brave performance at the heart of the Brent defence, helping to keep her team in touch with Eagles.
Plucky debutante Freya Brown is definitely one for the future and made an immediate impression on her introduction from the bench. Her first touch was a perfectly weighted pass through a mass of Eagles players to Brent’s impressive first timer Tilly Berwitz. Berwitz unleashed a through-ball with the outside of her foot to Esme Bicknell who pounced from nowhere and drilled it first time, just missing the right hand post.
Late in the second half, Brent were denied penalty kicks on two occasions; first for a clumsy tackle on the irrepressible Ridley-Swettenham and moments later for a trip on Poole from a corner.
Although Eagles used their greater composure in front of goal to score three more times, this was tough on goalkeeper Leah Blackstone. The Brent stopper used her hands, feet and body to keep out various shots and even managed to stop an otherwise certain goal by throwing her herself face first towards the striker’s boot. Leah’s commitment in taking a ball in the face for the team exemplified the spirit of this close ‘band of sisters’ whose next match is against Highgate Rangers.
In the Capital Girls League, Brent Under-14 Girls hosted Actonians at Capital City Academy. In a very even game, Brent played well but the visitors scored the only goal to claim the points and a 1-0 victory.