Sussex County Women’s and Girls league
Under 13’s pre-seasons tournament, held at Oakwood FC – Sunday 29th August 2010
For the first tournament of this age group, we were in for a treat, with excitement right to the end. Including a tense final and a penalty shoot out to determine the best player of the tournament.
This eleven-a-side tournament is played on near full size pitches and each match lasts for 20 minutes, played one way. Five teams from the league join in to make the most of this pre-season opportunity. Oakwood playing in their usual red and black stripes were taking on today; Littlehampton Devils (yellow), Southdown (claret and blue), Eastbourne (royal blue) and Worthing (dark blue).
The tournament referees (Tony and Darren) kept the games in good order and ensured no foul play, there was not a yellow or red card in sight all day. Tony Vitler (Oakwood’s First team Goalkeepers coach and U18 manager) said that the spirit of the games had been friendly, competitive and had shown a good atmosphere on the pitch. Darren Kirkham – Oakwood’s U16 Manager said that it had been great fun.
First Round results;
5th Place – Eastbourne (2 points)
4th Place – Worthing (4 points)
3rd Place – Southdown (7 points -1 goal difference)
Finalists – Littlehampton and Oakwood both with 7 points and a +2 goal difference
Final Result;
Oakwood 2 (Taylor, Mia)
Littlehampton 0
Having enjoyed the friendly and laid back atmosphere of the first round, the final took on a more competitive feel. The time was now increased to a 30 minute match (two 15 minute halves) and it was being taken more seriously. There were some nerves in the fist 15 minute half and the teams pretty much cancelled each other out. Manager Trevor Warren took full advantage of the half time talk to motivate his young talented side.
The second half showed some great individual performances from Littlehampton, I picked out Brooke (number eight) who had a shot on target saved by the right foot of the Oakwood keeper and Tia (number twelve) who showed some promising skill and good strength. The breakthrough for Oakwood came against the run of play from the length of the pitch, with a great finish from Taylor (number two) with a second goal following from Mia (number nine) who had shown some great link up play with the promising forward Elise (number eleven).
Other notable individual performances came from Chloe (No6) for her motivation and awareness of other players, Casey (No 16) had been strong all tournament and saw her shot go over the bar and last but by no means least, a gutsy and mature performance from the keeper Hayley. A mention should also go to the two young girls (Sarah & Georgia) from the U11 side who happily stepped forward to fill the boots of the 2 girls who left early to attend another event. These youngsters were not fazed by marking girls a lot bigger than them, Georgia (number five) showed great commitment and courage. Oakwood dominated the second half and deserved to win. Littlehampton had played well all day but had run out of legs in the end.
The Player of the tournament trophies were awarded to Dominique (number fifteen) for Eastbourne and Tia (number twelve) Littlehampton as decided by a thrilling penalty shoot out, which saw Hayley (Oakwood) save two penalties, giving her some vital practice and a real confidence boost.
Neil Blackwell (Director) has been involved with the club for over 26 years and his commitment to his staff who give up their time is great to see. Neil speaks with pride about his club, saying that they have manage to expand the club to a First team, a reserve team, 12 boys teams and now the addition of 4 girls teams. In all there are over 180 girls and boys in the club of varying ages and skills.
Other dedicated staff are; Jamie, Chris and Jane helping with the food and refreshments, Jane in the bar and the coaching staff who help out on the lines and looking after the kids. The club has a great family atmosphere and the pitches and grounds are kept really well.
involved in some much needed corporate sponsorship, your help would be most welcome and would mean so much to all those involved.
Look out for their up and coming events which include a Halloween and fireworks night on 30th October and they are also planning a Veterans charity match which is more likely to be a chance for all those parents to show us what they have got!
Oakwood FC were great hosts today and made Crawley Happy Times feel very welcome, offering me quotes throughout the day to use, the best of these being from Mark the Oakwood U11 coach who said “Goalkeepers are born not made”. Well Hayley, you certainly showed us what you were made of today, keep up the great work.
The U13 girls at this club showed great commitment today; which is good to see, as this age group is prone to losing good players as their interest may wane. At Oakwood there is absolutely no evidence of this. The U13 girls’ season starts next Sunday.
Good luck from CHT.
Report and pictures by our sports correspondent Becs Mountjoy. Thank you Becs 
