FLEETWOOD, Lancs, 22 September, 2008

6 Fleetwood Town Juniors Girls Under 11 
1 Haslingden Junior Girls Under 11
North Valley League
Sunday 21st September

Fleetwood Town Juniors youngest girl’s team made their home debut in the North Valley league with a full strength squad available. The Under 11 Girl’s made an impressive start when Anna Reynolds scored on 4 minutes with a well taken effort.  Town continued to press forward, with hard working striker Lucy Johnson ably supported from midfield by Francesca Hearty and Kelsey Hargreaves.  Fleetwood’s dominance paid dividends midway through the first half when Johnson smashed the ball home from the edge of the box. Yasmin McLaren and Madeleine Lauder defended well to cancel out the few attacks Haslingden could muster. Goalkeeper Gabi Aston was a virtual spectator and relatively untroubled by the visitors.  As half time approached Hearty went close with a rasping drive across the face of goal and was unlucky not to get her name on the score sheet.

Haslingden came out for the second half with more purpose and the home side introduced Charlotte Brooks, Jade Terry and Kirby Blyth. Aston needed to be alert to the renewed threat and pulled off three excellent saves, all from one-on-one situations.  As Fleetwood pressed in search of more goals, Haslingden striker broke free and scored, although against the run of play.  This stirred Haslingden and they went close to equalising, only for Aston to again stand in the way. This pressure brought the Fleetwood defence into the game with Blyth and Lauder being solid at the back.  Motivation took over the home side and Fleetwood increased their lead. Brooks and Hearty combined to let Reynolds go one-on-one against the keeper. A cool finish made the scoreline 3-1. Haslingden had run out of steam by this point and Fleetwood dominated the remainder of the game with Terry unlucky not to score with a stinging shot.  Reynolds completed her well deserved hat trick with another great shot.  As the game came to a close Johns ghosted past two Haslingden defenders and squeezed home from a tight angle.  The biggest cheer of the day though was saved for the hardworking and unselfish Hargreaves, who burst through the defence and smashed the ball home to complete a comprehensive victory.

Excellent performances all round and the crowd where treated to superb passing moves by the home team.

Man of the Match (as voted by opposition) – Lucy Johnson
Managers Man of the Match – Yasmin McLaren