Well, the second year for the club has been an eventful one. Winter training picked up where we left off from, training on Endcliffe Park and the Bolehills as we were in the middle of securing our own pitch.
Winter training led us to our first games of the season in March for both the men’s and ladies’ teams. This year the ladies' matches would be played in a mini blitz style tournament, taking it in turns to host the blitz. The first blitz was hosted by York with our ladies partnering up with them again (as they did for the rest of the year). The ladies came away with their first win of the year against Huddersfield, whilst narrowly losing out to a strong Leeds team and an impressive Newcastle side.
The men’s first game of the year was away in Beeston against 2018 Senior League winners, Hugh O’Neills. Both sides put in a good shift and played some great football, resulting in a draw by the end of the game.
Shortly after our first games, we secured our very own home ground 🙌 The pitch is owned by the University of Sheffield and has amazing facilities. With our own pitch now sorted, we can start to host games and plan bigger and better training sessions.
The next blitz for the ladies saw them take another win against Huddersfield, whilst the remaining games had to be postponed due to injuries throughout the teams. The men’s next match was at home against York in the Yorkshire Championship, with a chance to show off our new pitch and facilities. Unfortunately the men’s team lost out to York in a close fought game, meaning we’d have to wait a bit longer to have our first home win.
The next game for the men’s team was another home game, this time against Brothers Pearse in the Yorkshire Senior League. The lads put in a strong performance and came out with their first home victory! The next blitz for the ladies didn’t quite go to plan as they drew to an improved Huddersfield side and lost two tough games against Leeds and Newcastle.
The final blitz for the ladies was hosted by Newcastle where the team came away with a win against Huddersfield and a narrow loss to the Leeds and Newcastle teams. The men’s team travelled to Leeds for their next Senior League match against JFK where a close game ended in a Vincent’s victory.
With a bit of a summer break for both teams, the club kept busy by putting on a family fun day, welcoming two new sponsors (Henry Boot and Grey Matter), held a kids training session, travelled to York for the 7’s tournament (where the ladies narrowly lost out in the final to York) and invited Sheffield United star John Egan to a training session.
Football resumed for the men’s team in the Senior Championship where they won against JFK and but lost out to Newcastle’s Cú Chuláinns, putting them in the semi-final against Brothers Pearse in the Yorkshire Shield. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be for the men’s team as they lost out to Brothers Pearse, who went on to win the Yorkshire Shield in a close final against JFK.
The last match for the ladies' team was away at Beeston in the Ladies Yorkshire Shield against Huddersfield. Our girls (along with York) put in a dominant performance, beating Huddersfield and winning the very first trophy for the club! Unbelievable performance and amazing effort all year from the ladies, thoroughly deserve the title of Ladies Yorkshire Shield Champions!
Once again we said goodbye to some amazing people but have also welcomed a lot of new faces who are already settling in. The committee have done some incredible work, securing the clubs own pitch, putting on some class (and wild) socials and keeping the club running behind the scenes. With the club growing and getting into a stronger position, we look forward to the coming season. Massive thanks to all our supporters and sponsors for your help throughout the year, we wouldn’t be in the position we are in now if it wasn’t for your help. Bring on 2020!
Vincent’s Abú
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