Mill Lane United U14 Girls won the prestigious Blackpool Tournament for the 3rd successive year. After a wet day at the pleasure beach, the previous day the Mill Lane United girls were off to an early start as the Blackpool Tournament started on a glorious summer’s day.
The first day in the defence of their trophy yielded 2 victories against Lumley Ladies and Prudoe and a disappointing defeat against Leicester City as the Beverley side battled well against quality opposition.
If day one was hard Mill Lane United knew the first game of day 2 would be the acid test against a strong Preston North End side that was made up of 4 England squad members and numerous development centre girls that would test them to the full.Undefeated from day 1 playing confident passing football Preston were expected to steam roll over the Beverley side ,but as always this Mill Lane team had other ideas as they ripped the form book up side down.
Straight from the kick off they harried and pressurised the Preston side giving them no time on the ball ,winning every 50/50 tackle and playing superb passing football which resulted in 2 early quality goals from Millie O’Neill after a brilliant tackle and pass from midfielder Tonya Storr and Emma Johnson after a great solo run and shot that beat the Preston keeper at the near post.With the midfield of Tonya Storr ,Amy Radford and Emma Johnson winning every tackle ably assisted by lone striker Millie O’Neill Mill Lane continued to dominate to half time.
Totally out played in the first half Preston hit back in the second half and after a sustained period of pressure scored a scrambled goal to get themselves back into the game.The game was now end to end with both sides creating chances ,but Mill Lane held firm with Emma Smith and Emily Holliday tackling strongly and goalkeeper Charlotte Holliday making a couple of crucial saves as the whistle went giving the Beverley side a 2 1 victory against the favourites for the competition.
After such a tough game Mill Lane struggled to reach the same height in the final 2 group games, but with a victory and a draw giving them 4 wins 1 draw and 1 defeat it was enough to get them to the final and another encounter against Preston North End.If Preston underestimated Mill Lane United in the first game they certainly made up for their disappointment by starting the final strongly.Mill Lane though undeterred gave as good as they got as both sides attacked and tackled with purpose looking to take the early advantage.
The game was end to end as no quarter was asked or given as both sides chased the winning goal.
The minutes ticked towards full time and the dreaded penalty shoot out and as Mill Lane tired in the final few minutes Preston started to dominate before a final last ditch tackle by Tonya Storr ensured the full time whistle went with the score locked at 0 0. Over the years the Mill Lane team have developed a mental toughness in these situations and were in a confident mood as the penalty shoot out began.
Successful penalties by Emma Smith ,Charlotte Holliday and Emma Johnson were matched by Preston before both sides missed.This left one more penalty each and Mill Lane took the advantage when a superb save by goal keeper Charlotte Holliday left the Beverley side 1 penalty shot from victory.
Pressure on up stepped captain Emily Holliday to drive the ball passed the Preston North End keeper and give victory to Mill Lane 4 3 on penalties.The whole squad and coaches celebrated as they lifted the trophy for an amazing 3rd successive year against quality opposition showing everyone the high standard of girls football in East Yorkshire.
