Swans glide to Cup glory with very solid performance

Gary Head

Caversham turned up at Thatcham Town FC for the high pressure Cup final against their arch rivals AFT Crystals. All or nothing 80 minutes. The team were missing our inspirational coach John, but we all knew that he would want us to get on with it. Great pitch, proper ref and lines people and crucially for the Swans a full size pitch. Caversham started really well not wanting to miss the opportunity the Cup final presented ..... solid defence and scrappy in midfield gave us the upper hand and a slotted ball from Grace saw Lianna unleash a fierce shot, which nestled into the bottom corner for one nil. Caversham were aggressive from the re-start and it wasn’t long before they had carved out another opportunity, which Grace snatched at and fired a fierce shot into the top corner which the goalie had no chance with. 2-0 Caversham .... boom ? Crystals, unbeaten all season didn’t know what had hit them and they certainly weren’t used to being 2-0 down !!!!! Maud, Anna, Izzy and Olivia were impenetrable at the back and the Crystals attackers we’re getting increasingly frustrated. Crystals had a solitary attack and from a messy situation a looping long shot dropped just under the bar ...... and our lead was halved !!!!! Unlucky, but that’s what football can do to you. Half time came and Caversham were still in a great position ......... but as they saw at Anfield and in Amsterdam recently ..... its not over until it’s over !!!!!
The second half started and Crystals were on all out attack, as expected ....: and the back line again held firm. Martha had come on to sure things up and Abby, Lally, Ruby and Lucy were now terrorising up front and were posing the usual threat and had a number of half chances as the half moved on. Leonie and Leah were making some solid challenges in the middle. Again Crystals responded and came back to threaten the Caversham goal, really great defending from Maud was followed by a momentary mix up at the back and at this level it’s all Crystals needed to snatch the equaliser. Unfair on the balance of play, but that’s football and fair play to them for turning it around. 2-2 with 20 minutes to go. Now Caversham were in a real fight and the girls REALLY had to decide if they wanted to win or lose. Nothing more the coaches could do it was up to them. The last 20 minutes was end to end with chances for both sides. Serena (as always) made a couple of fantastic saves, which she made look easy when it was anything but. Caversham,pushed forward again looking for the winner and after a nice interplay Grace found a yard of space and let another one fly ............ GGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!
10 minutes left and Caversham ahead in the Cup final. Dreamy stuff. Crystals pushed forward and pushed their biggest players up front and as was the case throughout the match, Niamh, Anna and Martha sized them up and sorted them out no bother.
The seconds seemed like hours and the minutes were days, but eventually..... thank goodness, the ref blew for full time and history was created. No one can ever take away the cup win for Caversham Swans U15s in 2019. An amazing achievement for a really great bunch of girls and hopefully we will move on to even greater triumphs next year. Well done to every girl and thank you to all of the parents for your support throughout the year. Thanks the coaches and Sandra.