Halas Hawks under 10s and under 14s East were both involved in the Stourbridge
Girls League cup finals and both ran out worthy winners after two
close fought games.

The under 10 girls met Gornal Girls and the game got off to a cracking start
with good attacking football from both teams. Halas went close on a couple of
occasions with shots from Mollie Duroe and Beth Sharkey keeping the Gornal
keeper busy. A wonderful strike from Summer Archer almost opened the scoring
for Halas but the keeper held onto the shot to make a good save. 

The deadlock was broken after a superb run from Beth Sharkey from inside her
own penalty area finished with her crossing the ball from the Gornal bye line.
The ball took a deflection and ended up in the back of the Gornal net.

In the second half Gornal applied more pressure but the Halas defence 
stood firm; excellent defensive work from Hannah Sharkey, Amy Blakemore 
and Olivia Keenan restricted Gornal to just one attempt on goal. There 
were promising runs from Charis Maguire and Paige Dudley which again 
forced the Gornal keeper into a great save down at the near post. Beth 
Ingram, Halas' goalkeeper, kept a clean sheet to ensure a 1-0 win for the
Halas girls. Hannah Sharkey was awarded the player of the match.

The under 14's East finally came away with a piece of silverware
to show for their fantastic efforts this season. Up until now the girls had
only been beaten once this season, a defeat which unfortunately cost them the
league title. However, the girls made amends with a hard fought win over
Hillcrest Girls in the League Cup Final. 

A determined Hillcrest team came out battling in the first half and were
unlucky to go 1-0 down with ten minutes to go until half time, after Olivia
Emerson notched a close range opener for Halas. 

The second half saw Halas dominate possession and extend their lead through
captain, Kirsty Houston, with 15 minutes to go. 

The hot weather, and a hard pitch, led to both sets of players tiring towards
the end of the game, but the Halas girls continued to battle until the final
whistle to maintain their two goal advantage. Kirsty Houston was named Player
of the Match.