Scarborough Ladies u14s girls were back in action last weekend with a tough assignment in the quarter final of the North Riding FA Junior Cup. They were pitted against Middlesbrough Women Lionesses who top their league in Tyne and Wear. With leading scorer Jess Hindle missing, the SLFC youngsters needed a good start and they duly got it. Good work in the middle of the park from Ellie Speak found skipper Daisy Stokoe in space and she dribbled her way into the box before poking the ball past the keeper to go 1-0 up. Once again, great play in the middle of the park by Beth Barnes, Ellie Pateman, Anna Bowman and Phoebe Wareing ensured the home side had no time on the ball and this pressure soon told again when Speak wriggled away from her marker to expertly finish for 2-0. The defence of Jolie Matthews, Charlie Jowitt, Mia Nunns and Lucy Roberts were doing a fine job of keeping the attackers at bay, with keeper Amber Colling coolly dealing with everything coming her way. Half time arrived with the score 2-0 and hopes were high of killing the game off early to be able to make some changes. Nunns took over in goal from Colling for the restart but the SLFC girls soon found themselves under pressure as the home side’s team talk seemed to have galvanised them into action. Last ditch blocks and tackles were the order of the day to keep the score the same but the home side finally made the breakthrough following a lapse of concentration at the back. Nunns was the busiest player on the pitch at this point and she did well to make a succession of saves to keep the visitors ahead. But the pressure eventually told and the home side equalised to set up an exciting end to the game. However, Scarborough got on the front foot again and a through ball to Speak saw her dance around the defence and beat the oncoming keeper to slot home to make it 3-2. But that joy was short-lived as Middlesbrough headed up the other end and scored direct from a corner. With Stokoe going in goal for the remainder of the game there were chances at either end as the game was played at a frenetic pace to try to avoid penalties. Stokoe pulled off a brilliant save down to her left to put the ball out for a corner and then the defence expertly got it to safety. With just over a minute left on the clock, a huge goal kick straight down the middle from Stokoe bounced beyond the Middlesbrough defence and in a flash, Speak was onto it and she whizzed past the keeper to slot home for her hat-trick to make it 4-3. The girls then shut up shop to take the win to move into the semi-final of the cup thanks to a superb team effort, with hotshot Ellie Speak and Daisy Stokoe edging the girl of the match honours.
FT - Middlesbrough Women Lionesses u14s 3 Scarborough Ladies u14s 4
Meanwhile, league results went Scarborough’s way as they still sit second in the table, four points behind Rawcliffe with a game in hand. That’s been made possible by a superb 5-3 away win at high-flying York RI with goals from Jess Hindle (3), Ellie Speak and Anna Bowman which was followed up by a 7-1 win away at Bishopthorpe White Rose, with goals from Anna Bowman (3), Amber Colling, Ellie Speak and Daisy Stokoe.
