Cornwall triumph makes history for Burgess Hill Town girls

It was the first time an all-girls team from the Burgess Hill club had travelled to Cornwall to compete in such an event.

The tournament, held over a weekend, featured a league of eight teams.

Day one saw Hill play four games, three of which were back-to-back so the whole squad needed to play their part in helping them qualify for the finals.

The first match brought a 2-1 victory to set them on their way, and in the second match they continued their hard work and won 3-0.

The third game was against the league leaders and gave Hill their first loss.

After a compelling team talk from manager Martyn Box, the girls went into the final game of the day and won 2-0 to make it three out of four wins. This secured second place in the league.

There were three games to play early on the Sunday and the girls were eager to get back on the pitch.

In their first game of the day they won 1-0, showing heart, desire and determination. The second game brought a 2-0 victory.

The final league game gave them a real test but the girls rallied, together showing real support for each other, to finish with a 3-2 win.

This meant they had made it to the final, finishing second in the league with six wins out of seven.

They did not have much time to prepare for the final, but were ready to give it their all – they had not travelled nearly 300 miles for it to end there.

In a very competitive match Burgess Hill took a 1-0 lead – then held on to win the R & T Cornwall tournament.

After congratulating their opponents, the girls ran over to their parents for a celebration.

They were presented with the trophy by ex-England coach Peter Taylor.

Captain Lissa Marlow lifted the cup to cap a fantastic weekend.

One last surprise remained – they were presented with the trophy for fair play as the referees had voted Burgess Hill Town as the team who displayed the best sporting manner.

The squad comprised Lissa Marlow, Isla Heasman, Eriko Emura, Isla O’Conner, Ami Camera, Leyla Jukes, Erin Klutsey, Maise Bartholomew, Nicol Drencheva, Faith Crowhurst and Esmee Dallinger. Managed by Head Coach Martyn Box and assistant coach Glen Marlow.

Tina Alfieri, director of women’s and girls football at BHTFC, said: “For the first time in our girls’ section history we were delighted when the U11s decided to go on tour to Cornwall.

"Little did we know these amazing girls would dominate their age group… the girls played their hearts out and took away the winners’ cup. Not only that, the team won the Fair Play award.

“To say the club is proud is an understatement. They flew the flag for Burgess Hill Town FC Juniors and our whole club. A massive congratulations to Martyn Box, Glen Marlow and their girls.”