Swan Aqua U12s finish 3rd in Wimborne tournament

With Sienna unfortunately off sick and Amy on loan to the Corals, we had 10 Aquas ready to brave their first tournament of the season.

Our opening game against the Wimborne A team was a tough one. The play was fast and furious, our passing rather wild and Izzy's attempts on goal a little over-ambitious so Wimborne quickly went ahead. Emilia managed to sneak in an equaliser but in the second half Wimborne surged ahead again. Our attacking players struggled to get free of their markers, though on the defence side of things, determined play from Zahra and Emilia (now GD) helped limit the damage. Final score: L 1-4.

For our second game we faced our compadres, the Corals. To give Aquas a fighting chance, Jilly obligingly had them all playing out of position, which was a great boost to Aqua confidence. The passing was calmer and more accurate than in the first game, with Erin and Emily W dominant in the mid court, and Emilia (now in GD) and Sophie getting in key interceptions in the defensive third. After a goalless first half, a cracking goal from Izzy put Aquas ahead early in the second. Sadly, it was not to last. Alice now on as Corals' lethal GS saw them rapidly clawing back goals and moving ahead, although a nice one-two between Charlotte and Izzy did give Aquas one more goal, ensuring we still took away a point (for getting at least half as many goals as the winners). Final score: L 2-4.

Third up it was North Dorset, who we haven't played before but just saw lose to Corals 17-0. Not quite such an easy ride for Aquas, however. Bethany opened the scoring for Aqua, but North Dorset quickly equalised. Then some strong passing between Emily P, Emily W and Charlotte in GA gave us a second and we finished the first half slightly ahead. A similar pattern continued in the second half. Sterling work from Zahra and Sophie in the opponents' D rescued the situation more than once. Emily P continued to work tirelessly in mid court with strong support from Ella (trying out WD) and Erin, and Charlotte, ably assisted by Bethany, managed to sneak in the deciding goal just before the whistle. Final score: W 3-2.

For our fourth game we faced another unknown quantity, Dorchester. This was another close game between two evenly matched sides. Dorchester came off better in the first half, finishing one goal up, but Aquas fought back strongly in the second half, when it quickly developed into a real ding-dong: first Emilia scored the equaliser, then Izzy put us ahead; Dorchester quickly responded with their own equaliser before a foul by their GK allowed Izzy to put Aquas ahead again. The same thing then happened again almost immediately: Dorchester equalised, then another foul by their GK on Izzy gave us a fourth goal. After that it was a matter of hanging on to that lead for the final minutes. The parents watched anxiously while Ella and Zahra battled bravely in the Dorchester D, repeatedly wresting the ball away from the Dorchester attackers, and were very relieved to hear that klaxon go! Final score: W 4-3.

Everyone was feeling a bit tired by the time it came to our final game, against Wimborne Blue, their B team. Luckily it was to be our easiest game. The girls had clearly been paying attention to Jenny's advice and concentrated on getting a good chain of passes going. Confident mid-court play between Charlotte, Emily W and Erin and accurate shooting put us 4-0 up at half time, a pattern that continued in the second half to give us an easy win. Final score: W 8-2.

All in all, an exciting and enjoyable tournament, and it was especially encouraging to see how much the girls improved as the tournament went on. They did well to finish a close third behind Wimborne Pink and the unbeaten tournament champions - Corals!

The team: Charlotte (c), Izzy, Emily P, Erin, Sophie, Emily W, Bethany, Ella, Zahra, Emilia

Player of the tournament: Zahra