The ladies football academy team from Solihull College faced West Hertfordshire College on 29th April in an attempt to be crowned the English Colleges FA Premier Cup champions.
The game kicked off at 11am at Birmingham City’s stadium, St Andrews where captain Poppy Jones led her team out in hope to secure victory over West Hertfordshire. Poppy’s team mate Coral Haines explained how the team felt before the game: “After losing a couple of games which meant that we didn’t win the league, we felt that we had to prove ourselves going into the game […] being given the opportunity to play at St Andrews was a great platform for us and we were really excited to play on the pitch.”
The first half saw Solihull College Ladies take the lead with a goal from Coral Haines. Coach Jo Potter commented how the ladies “Could have been 6 or 7 goals up but West Hertfordshire’s goalkeeper was on form and it would have been easy for the teams heads to drop.” The ladies pulled together and Coral Haines, the player of the match, struck again with an emphatic finish in the 82nd minute before Jaymee Dudley sealed the fate of West Hertfordshire College in the 86th minute with her goal from close range. A consolation penalty was converted by Amy Radcliffe for West Hertfordshire College but it was too late as the Solihull College Ladies secured their 3-1 victory and were crowned ECFA Premier Cup champions.
Jo Potter summarised the game by stating that the ladies “Showed a real togetherness and not only played well as individuals but played well as a team.”
Many of the ladies in the squad play for Birmingham City Ladies as well as playing for the England International team. The team coach Jo Potter and the team physio Jade Moore are both Birmingham City Ladies stars as well as England Internationals and are hoping to be chosen for the England squad ahead of the women’s World Cup in Canada this summer. With their coach and physio setting the standards, the ladies at Solihull College are able to learn from the best. Coral, who also plays for Birmingham City Ladies stated how Jo and Jade are able to help her develop, not only for the Solihull College team but also for Birmingham City Ladies and hopes to continue her career as a professional footballer.
Congratulations to all of the ladies in the team for securing victory over West Hertfordshire to become ECFA Premier Cup champions. The result adds to the 3 national titles that the Solihull College academy has won within the last 2 seasons and the college looks to expand these successes as the academy hopes to create an additional ladies team next year as well as offer the course full time from September 2015.
For more information on the courses available at Solihull College please visit www.solihull.ac.uk/courses
