Ross Juniors Under 13s girls have had an excellent first half to their season in the Herefordshire Girls Football League, winning five and drawing two of their seven league matches.

The girls have had convincing wins over Tupsley, Ledbury, Lads Club Pumas, and Belmont Colts in their first season playing 9v9 football. The challenge is heightened for Ross; firstly because they are one of the youngest teams in the league, and secondly because Ross feature a handful of girls who have only been playing with the group for less than two years. All the girls are given an opportunity to play, which makes their adaptation to this season’s changes even more remarkable, playing some magnificent football along the way.

There have been many highlights in the early season: the team’s newest players, Daisy and Grace, outperforming more experienced opponents; Mica emerging as Ross’s very own Nemanja Matic; Naomi scoring a screamer into the top corner from 20 yards against Lads Club; Matilda scoring her first goal from open play; Caitlin setting new standards for her goalkeeping heroics; Cassie, Macy, Lily, and Millie consistently combining to create beautiful goals; Alex, Clara, Nelly, and Karuna turning their application in training into confidence-building improvement in matches; and Maddie and Ronie evolving into ball-playing defenders, not just on the pitch to tackle, but to create options and set up attacks.

Collectively, the 0-0 draw against Bartestree Harriers in October was an important milestone for the team. Bartestree, the reigning league and cup champions, are a year older than the Ross girls, have only lost one competitive game at this age group in four years, and have never failed to score. Bartestree’s form has also been impressive, with score lines more prevalent in rugby than football. The age gap between the teams is only one year but in terms of physical size and strength, Bartestree carry a large advantage. However, Ross have been working for three years to improve their technical ability to a level where it negates Bartestree’s physicality. That, combined with the tenacity and determination of the Ross girls, made this their closest contest yet and a huge achievement for Ross.

The team’s experienced group of players have also advanced to the county cup final which will take place at Edgar Street, in May, while the group’s less experienced players will play in the country futsal tournament in January.