Corwen Under 12 girls have now come within touching distance of being crowned North Wales Coast League champions, after an emphatic win over their closest rivals Northop hall on Friday night.

The Corwen outfit made the journey to Northop knowing that anything other than defeat would almost certainly be good enough to secure the title for the girls.

The first half kicked off and the Corwen girls came flying out of the traps, pushing Northop onto the back foot and setting their stall out early doors. The hosts struggled to contain their opponents and the Corwen girls had lots of possession without troubling the home keeper in the first 15 minutes.

The first sight of goal came on 20 minutes, when a fine run and cross from wing wizard Amelia Evans had the home defence scrambling when the ball fell to Elisa Williams, whose shot flashed passed the post. Corwen continued to dominate the game but the half ended 0-0.

The second half got under way, and the girls went through the gears and started putting constant pressure on the Northop goal. Within the space of two minutes some fine build up play saw hot shot striker Katie Armstrong smash a thunderous shot goal bound, only for the Northop stopper to push the effort over the bar. From the resulting corner it was Seren Hughes who went close when the ball dropped at her feet, only to see her effort going inches wide.

The Corwen girls had now taken full control of the game, and it came as no surprise when 10 minutes into the half and after some fine build up play, they took the lead when Paige Jones let fly from 10 yards, and her shot found the bottom right hand corner.
It took the girls just a further 5 minutes to double their advantage, when a misplaced clearance from the Northop keeper fell to striker Elisa Williams, who took full advantage by running onto the loose bal,l but still had it all to do but made the finish into the bottom corner look easy.

It was now damage limitation for Northop, who were now finding it tough going against the organised Corwen side. The girls were now stroking the ball around the pitch from back to front, and soon there was a third when Katie Armstrong got in amongst the goals with a fine solo run and finish to make it 3-0.

The outstanding back line of Charlotte Davies, Mali Jones and Kate Davies ensured the Northop side barely crossed the half way line, and gave the Corwen girls a fantastic platform to play from.

The game was put to bed in the closing stages, when Elisa Williams bagged her brace after some truly wonderful pass and move football was finished off by Williams to take the score to 4-0.

The way the girls blew away their nearest rivals with such ease was pleasing for everyone connected with the side. This was a fabulous team effort, and this result means the girls need just one more win from their final 3 games to secure the league title.

Ian Evans