Game Of The Day Sees Broughton Bag Guild Cup
Pupils and parents flocked to Deepdale on Thursday afternoon as various Preston Schools battled out their respective cup finals at the stadium.
The highlight of the day’s play saw Broughton Business and Enterprise College beat Our Lady’s High School two-one to win the U14s Girls’ Guild Cup.
A first-half brace from Jessie Walling secured the trophy for Broughton, upsetting their Lancashire Cup finalist opposition in the process.
However, it was Our Lady’s who started strongest, with Orla Sutton and captain, Amy Parr, combining well to create an early chance.
Although Broughton shot-stopper Shelby-Jane Altham, reacted early and was able to avert any danger with a timely clearance.
Match-winner, Jessie Walling began imposing her assured style of play on the game and almost gave her side the lead on the ten minute mark.
The talismanic striker gathered the ball deep into Our Lady’s territory before skipping past numerous defenders and rounding the onrushing ‘keeper with a flick of her boot.
However, full back Catherine Gregson was on the line to clear Walling’s well-placed effort and keep the scores level.
The Broughton pressure was too much for Our Lady’s though and the Business and Enterprise College took the lead just two minutes later.
A short throw-in found its way to Walling, who turned sharply and set her sights on goal.
With a swift strike of her right foot, the ball rocketed into the bottom corner to make it one-nil.
Our Lady’s responded well to going behind and were almost level immediately.
A goal-mouth scramble caused havoc in the Broughton defence as Altham was grounded by an unpunished challenge.
Unfortunately for Our Lady’s, neither Sutton nor Parr could stab home and they were left to regret further missed opportunities as Broughton doubled their lead prior to half-time.
Strike partners, Walling and Miah Weir, played a mesmerising one-two, creating enough room for the latter to unleash an unstoppable strike into the top right hand corner.
Our Lady’s clearly benefited from the half-time break, and a chance to regroup, as they pulled a goal back just five minutes after the restart.
A powerful Alex Hunter shot stung Eleanor Kirton’s palms, before Sutton nestled a looping effort into the corner of the net to make it two-one.
Broughton held strong to see out the game though, thwarting any possible Our Lady’s comeback, to claim the coveted Guild Cup.
And winning coach, Jeff Curl, expressed his delight at the final whistle, crediting the rock solid Broughton defence as the reason behind their victory.
“The defence was excellent,” he said.
“All the girls played really well. I was very impressed and I’m delighted we came out as winners in the end.”
Meanwhile, Curl reflected on his Deepdale experience as something that will live long in the memory.
“When you look back at the ability to play at such a wonderful stadium, it’s a great occasion for us,” he added.
“We’re made up that we’ve had this opportunity and it’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”