Football trials

Ben Dakin, Ben Phillipson, Harry Marshall and Pedro Quintas attended the Harrogate and Craven area U15 football trial, held at St. John Fisher School, Harrogate this year. Whilst the four have impressed over the last year in school and local teams the area squad comprises the best players from the larger part of North Yorkshire, and so popular was the initial trial that a second had to be held the following week. Ben Dakin impressed the selectors and made the final squad, playing at left back against Middlesborough Schools in his first outing. He has since also been selected for the West Yorkshire team after being put forward by his club Silsden FC.

Football

The annual 7-a-side event at U14, U15 and U16 level went ahead in excellent conditions at Settle.  The U14s won 9-5 and the U15s repeated their efforts of last year, winning by a good margin after conceding the first goal. Arron Johnson led the U14s to a straightforward win, with Andrew Jackson and Jack Brennand impressive form.  The U15 team pressed relentlessly throughout their game, and Wharfedale found it difficult to resist them. Quintas, Marshall and Philipson stamped their authority on the game and formed the spine in a strong team with no significant weaknesseses.  The U16 was the game of the evening, with the teams cancelling each other out in a well-contested game. Cook, in goal, kept Settle in the game as the game came alive in the second half, but as the game swung Settle’s way in the later stages Davidson, Firth and Woodrow were all denied by some solid defending.

Girls football

The U16 girls’ team went down 1-0  to St Wilfrid’s, Blackburn, in a tight game at Kendal Road. Blackburn started the brighter as Settle (who boasted some players playing for the first time) took time to find their shape. Rosie Rushton and Georgina Brown delivered the home team’s resistance throughout the first half and Harriet  Akeroyd and Ellie Fullalove were unlucky  not to have fared better with their attempts after breakaways. Player of the match Hannah Baines was the main force in turning the game around and, as St. Wilfrid’s ran out of steam, Settle’s better fitness allowed them to dominate the later stages, and it would not have been an injustice if Kate McNally had been able to turn her shot in after rounding the ‘keeper in the dying seconds.

The U15’s fared better in their English Schools first round game against Clitheroe, and dominated throughout to run out 9-2 winners. The aforementioned Baines and Harriet Akeroyd  were allowed time and space to control the game and set up opportunities for their hard-working teammates whilst scoring themselves. Kate McNally was effective in attack and, along with Kerry Holgate, kept the Clitheroe defence busy.