My Kanga Cup favourites lost!

Panthers Bel of the ball

The Belsouth Panthers have defeated the Belnorth Little Devils in their opening match of the 2007 Kanga Cup.

The Under 12 girls teams played out an exciting game showing off some great skills in the freezing conditions.

Belsouth ran into a howling wind in the first half but managed to grab the lead thanks to a good finish from Jamie Thompson.

Thompson’s first shot forced a good save, but she calmly slotted the rebound home to give the Panthers a well deserved half time lead.

Belsouth dominated field position in the second half as Belnorth struggled against the strong wind, and a second half goal from Belsouth’s Georgia Sheldrick wrapped it up for the Panthers.

Belsouth coach Peter Fogarty was really pleased with the performance of his girls but though playing on the full field tired his team out towards the end of the game.

“We were great, really good,” Fogarty said after the game. “The legs got a bit tired towards the end there, but the girls really enjoyed playing on a full field, because we normally play on a smaller field with just nine players, so they’re relishing the chance to play on a full field. They really lifted and played good football.”

Belnorth coach Jeff Smith was also proud of the way his team performed despite the score line.
“They had their chances, although they’re only 11 year old girls playing against 12 year olds, so that was a bit of a challenge,” Smith said. “They tried hard and actually did some good work running the ball forward and passing it around.”

One of those players who didn’t stop running and made some excellent charges through midfield was Belnorth’s Nicky Jelocha.

Jelocha looks like she may be one to watch in the future and Smith agrees. “Yeah Nicky is a pretty talented girl.”