U16 Whites Girls 'Sykes' out Brunsmeer After Scare

Penistone Church U16 Whites continued their winning start to the season after overcoming a late scare to beat Brunsmeer 2:3 in their SHGWL Div 2 match this weekend.

It was a fast and determined start for Penistone who scored early when Izzy Lomas poked home from a corner in an opening spell that saw Penistone enjoy good possession in and around the opposition box.

Having lost to Brunsmeer last year the team knew that the opposition would not lie down as proved to be the case with Penistone having to work hard as a team to contain the oppositions threat whilst maintaining their own.

At half time and still with only a single goal lead Penistone knew they still had work to do, and had a quiet determination about themselves not to be punished for not extending their lead. With Gabi Snape re-instated onto the right wing at the start of the second half Penistone once again started to create a lot of problems for the Brunsmeer defence with Gabi's blistering pace allowing her to travel into the opponents box on several occasions.

Sure enough mid way through the half following an excellent high through ball from Freya Wright, Daisy Sykes bore down on the Brunsmeer goalkeeper and blasted home to give Penistone the 2 goal cushion they had been chasing since their early opener.

However the game was not yet done and as Penistone began to show signs of tiredness the irrepressible Brunsmeer scored 2 quick goals in the last 10 minutes to snatch a seemingly unlikely point.

Whilst it would have been easy for Penistone to feel sorry for themselves they rallied and within a minute of being pegged back they again took the lead when a long range effort from Daisy Sykes crept into the net. As if spurred on by the Brunsmeer goals and with only minutes remaining Penistone created an outstanding chance to once again double their lead but failed to convert the opportunity.

As Brunsmeer threw the kitchen sink at Penistone in the dying seconds it was captain Macy Jones that rose the highest amongst a host of high feet to win the ball and end the game. It was a fitting end and personified the determination and teamwork the Penistone girls had shown throughout the match.

Whilst not quite hitting top gear this week the result was a good victory for Penistone against a team who never gave up, have some excellent players and whom Penistone have a lot of respect for.

Thank you to Dan and the Brunsmeer team for an excellent and exciting morning of grassroots football.

Girl of the game for Penistone was Daisy Sykes.