On Sunday 15th May 2016 it was the Annual York Railway Institute Girls’ Summer Tournament, and the U13s were defending a title they have won for the previous two years.  It was a bright sunny day and the pitches were perfect for good passing football.  All games were 5 a side with 5 minutes each way.

The U13s had entered two teams:

York RI Superstars – Grace (c), Nichola, Macy, Kimberly, Chloe H and Chloe J

York RI Beginners – Denva (c), Alexia, Amber, Lauren, Tegan and Katie

Here is a quick run down on what happened to the Superstars:

Match 1 – Cottingham Rangers 2 – York RI Superstars 0 – A visiting team from Hull who played some brilliant passing football and deservedly won the game, even though York RI did have some chances.

Match 2 – York RI Superstars 0 – Rawcliffe 1 – York dominated the game but just couldn’t score, Rawcliffe had one shot on target and scored!  That’s tournament football in a nutshell.

Match 3 – York RI Superstars 1 (Macy) – Bishopthorpe White Rose 0 – York RI got there first win with a solo goal from guest player Macy.  Very even game and some good saves from Nichola in goal.

Match 4 – Stamford Bridge A 1066 1 – York RI Superstars 0 – Another game that York dominated and just couldn’t force the ball home, very unlucky defeat.

Match 5 – York RI Superstars 1 (Kimberly) – Poppleton Panthers 0 – A great pass from Grace and similar finish from Kimberly gave York a much-needed win, and allowed them to finish third in the group, meaning they progressed to the Plate semi final.

Match 6 – York RI Superstars 0 – Wigginton Scarlets 0 – Neither team managed to score in normal time or the 2 minutes of extra time, the match was decided by penalties.  The unfortunate player was Kimberly, who saw her penalty come back off the post and York went out 3-2 on penalties.

Click here to see some images from the day.

Here is a quick run down on what happened to the Beginners:

Match 1 – York RI Beginners 4 (Alexia x2, Denva x2) – Poppleton Tigers 0 – The prefect start to the day with a dominate performance in which the score could have been much more.

Match 2 – York RI Beginners 4 (Alexia x3, Amber) – Brayton Belles 0 – A game that should have been difficult turned out to be a walk in the park with York playing some lovely passing football.

Match 3 – Wigginton Scarlets 0 – York RI Beginners 2 (Alexia x 2) – A physical game with some interesting tackles!  York ran out comfortably in the end but Katie made a couple of good saves.  Tegan had her own personal battle with the crossbar at one point!

Match 4 – Stamford Bridge B Vikings 0 – York RI Beginners 7 (Alexia x3, Tegan x2, Lauren, Amber) – The match was only 4 a side and York scored some great goals especially Lauren’s run from her own penalty area.  The biggest cheer of the whole day was saved for ‘Birthday Girl Tegan’ who scored her first ever goals for York RI, and the smile said it all!

Match 5 – Scarborough Ladies 0 – York RI Beginners 1 (Alexia) – In the toughest test of the day, York struggled to pass the ball and won with an individual goal from Alexia.  York won the group with 100% record and no goals conceded, and progressed to the Cup semi final.

Match 6 – York RI Beginners 0 – Rawcliffe 0 – In a game York dominated but couldn’t score in normal or extra time, the match went to penalties.  Talking point of the day was a goal bound shot from Amber that was deflected wide by a young boy running on the pitch to retrieve his tennis ball!!  With both goalkeepers on top form, Alexia’s penalty hit the post, Denva and Amber had theirs saved, Lauren scored, it was then left to Tegan to score the winning penalty and put York into yet another final with a 2-1 penalty win.

Match 7 – Cottingham Rangers 2 – York RI Beginners 0 – (7 minutes each way) York were beginning to look tired and a good goal from the visitors gave them an early lead.  A mix up just before half time gifted Cottingham a second and in the second half York dominated the ball but just couldn’t break them down and finished runners-up on the day.

Coach Chris said afterwards ‘Both teams were picked out of a cup at random so it was a brilliant display from all of them.  Huge thanks to Nicola and Macy for helping us out today, both were brilliant.  If, at the start of the day, you had told me that a runner-up and a semi final was what we would achieve I would have been very happy.  Every single player ran themselves into the ground and gave 100% commitment, they were all superstars today!’