Girls U16s Progress to Cup Quarter Finals

In bright sunshine on Saturday 19th December, Harrogate Town Girls U16s entertained Silsden Dragons in the cup

Silsden are riding high at the top of Division Two, scoring on average six goals a game, and they came out determined to produce a cup upset.

Harrogate had to work extremely hard to combat Silsden’s attacking prowess and it is testament to the girls’ teamwork that they kept a clean sheet.

The first half was a tight affair with few clear-cut chances, but Harrogate increasedthe tempo in the second half and posed more of an attacking threat.

The Silsden goalkeeper had an excellent match making a string of fine saves but twelve minutes into the second half Harrogate took the lead, a worthy goal to break the deadlock, Lucy Taylor’s clever through ball found Eva Jenkins who held off a defender and slotted home underneath the onrushing goalkeeper.

Five minutes later Town doubled their lead when Niamh Tyssen smashed home an unstoppable shot from an acute angle.

Town’s goalkeeper Taia Port then bravely smothered a Silsden attack as they pushed forward but Town remained resolute.

Harrogate exploited Silsden’s need to attack with Jenkins scoring twice more to snare her fifth hattrick of the season.

Manager Nic Streatfield was delighted with how the girls played in what was their first competitive match in more than two months, “I thought it was a really good game of football and credit must go to both teams, but to be honest it is just absolutely brilliant to see girls playing again.” 

Maddie Ashby was player of the match as Harrogate progress to the quarter finals. 

Town: Taia Port (GK), Maddie Ashby, Lily Pritchard, Robyn McKendrick, Olivia Delaney, Lydia Corner, Maddie Dennis, Bella Devereux, Lucy Taylor, Eva Jenkins (C), Liv Johnson 
  
Subs: Niamh Tyssen, Ciara Streatfield, Gabi Hall, Hannah McHugh