Football: Double joy for dazzling Diamonds
PETERBOROUGH Diamonds Under 12s delivered a delightful double in the Cambridgeshire League at the weekend.
PETERBOROUGH Diamonds Under 12s delivered a delightful double in the Cambridgeshire League at the weekend.After being crowned league champions seven days earlier, they went out and beat Witchford Colts 3-0 in the League Cup final at the Cambridge City ground in what was their biggest game since they were formed last season.
It was their first taste of playing inside a proper football ground with a stand full of two sets of very vocal supporters and they more than matched the occasion.
Diamonds started off the stronger side pushing Witchford back for much of the first 15 minutes and they were unlucky to not be several goals ahead with shots from Abbie Steels, Elizabeth Steele and Jessica Driscoll either going just wide, being blocked or saved by the Witchford keeper.
In the end Diamonds pressure paid off. Witchford were unable to clear their lines from a corner and a shot by Steels was deflected into the net by a Witchford defender.
Witchford fought back with great determination but Lucy Johnson and Rebecca Palmer were in great form in defence for the Diamonds.
Just before the end of a very competitive first half, Diamonds once again breached the Witchford defence for captain Steels to hit the second for Diamonds and give them the cushion they needed to relax and start to play some passing, attacking football in the second half.
Witchford applied some early pressure after half-time but found the Diamonds keeper Georgia Clarke in fantastic form and she pulled off a series of point-blank saves.
Diamonds third goal came when Steele picked up a through ball, beat the last defender and blasted the ball into the back of the Witchford net.
Diamonds coach Adrian Clarke said: "All credit to both sides who were unfazed by playing in front of a stand full of supporters and they did girls football proud with an entertaining competitive game.
"Witchford never gave up and their number 10 was a real handful for our defence. But as our league and cup run shows, our girls cannot only score goals but they are a hard team to score against.
"Every one of the Diamonds girls deserves credit for not only the cup final win but also for their performances in beating the second and third-placed teams in the league to reach the final.
"We had by far the toughest route to the final and they were determined to win another piece of silverware for the club and to raise our profile.
"Georgia Clarke rightly deserved the manager's player-of-the-match award with a series of great saves to help us win this game.
"It has been a great season for us and it is only right that I give credit to manager Dave Anderson and Steve Johnson for their commitment all season in coaching and creating this winning team and also I must thank all the parents who have given up their time and have transported the girls all over Cambridgeshire this season.
Diamonds: Hannah Adams, Natasha Anderson, Georgia Clarke, Rhianne Criddle, Jessica Driscoll, Lucy Johnson, Rebecca Palmer, Chloe Schulz, Elizabeth Steele, Abbie Steels, Alice MacNicol.
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Weather for Peterborough
Thursday 18 March 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C - 8 C
Wind Speed: 14 Knots
Wind direction: North west
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Temperature: 2 C - 10 C
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