Ross Juniors U9 Girls season ended with a victory in the Herefordshire Girls League, U9 shield Final over Belmont Wanderers.

After a modest start to the season, the girls have grown in confidence, and performances have matched that with some impressive victories over strong opposition in the latter part of the season.

The shield final, which took place at a very hot and sunny Pegasus Junior’s ground in Hereford, saw Ross take on Belmont in a game that on form could’ve gone either way.

Ross started brightly, with Jess, Neve M, and Leah combining some excellent passing to attack the Belmont defence. Neve C led the front, picking up a loose ball and was able to get in a fantastic shot that narrowly went wide.

As in previous encounters between these two teams, Belmont were not going to sit back, and their constant pressure broke the Ross defence and scored to put Belmont 1-0 up. Belmont then had their tails up and looked to get a second, but some excellent defending by Layla, Romerleigh and Amelia made sure they didn’t add to their lead.

Goalkeeper Holly then found herself 1 on 1 with the Belmont Striker, and did brilliantly to stand her ground and pull off a fabulous save.

Ross then lifted their game and started to push forward again. Esme, Jas and Lily came on and made some superb individual runs, showing some fantastic skill.

The game then looked like it was getting away from Ross, and the heat started to take its toll. Charlotte and Isabel then came on to give the team some fresh legs. This seemed to work, as Ross found themselves with more of the ball and with five minutes to go, Isabel pounced on a ball in the box to score a deserved equaliser.

The game finished 1-1 so went straight to penalties. The tension seemed to be felt more by the crowd than the girls as they took it in their stride. Ross won 2-0 with a fine display in goal by Holly, saving all three penalties, and Romerleigh and Jess scoring the Ross goals.

This is a fantastic achievement from a team in their second season who are already looking forward to a season at U10s.