HBHS Under 16 Girls are the Kent Champions

On Saturday 16^th March, our under 16 girls football team played against Bullers Wood School for Girls in the Kent Schools' Cup Final at Herne Bay Football Club.

Our team came into the final with confidence after scoring 20 goals and only conceding 3 in the previous rounds. The girls were welcomed in the changing rooms by new football kit that has been kindly donated by Stonebond plus surprise cup final t-shirts with their names on.

The girls from Herne Bay High started the first half as the brighter of the two teams as they started to set an early tempo to the game. A fast start was nearly rewarded when Lexi chased down a loose ball and reached it before the oncoming Bullers' goal keeper, but she couldn't quite get enough contact to direct the ball towards the goal. The chances continued with Keira orchestrating some excellent passes from midfield, the girls saw two efforts rattle to woodwork of the Bullers' goal, with Paige coming agonisingly close from a spectacular long ranged effort. 

The game started to even out and a few forced substitutions through injury, saw Bullers Wood grow into the game. They started to carve out a few chances for themselves but the safe hands of Jess ensured the scores remained level heading into half time. 

Despite a positive half-time team talk, it was Bullers Wood who came out of the blocks firing in the second half. This resulted in a good spell of possession and some tricky moments for the Herne Bay defence, however; Grace, Daisy, Alicia, Darcie and Amelia stood firm during various moments of the second half. Despite our slow start to the second half, Madison, Ffion and Tiff started to combine and created some good chances. Their good work was rewarded with a corner, Lexi swinging the ball in with pace, with the ball finding it's way into the net sending the girls 1-0 up. This set up a nervy final 15 minutes with a few good chances from Bullers Wood but Jess stood firm again and denied any clear cut opportunities.

The final whistle went and bedlam erupted on the pitch. The girls made history by becoming the first girls' team to win a Kent Cup for the school. They have become role models for future girls teams to aspire to be like.

We are extremely proud of the girls and their dedication to girls football this year: they reached the last 8 of the National Cup and have now been crowned Kent Cup champions. Whatever the girls go onto do post-Year 11, they will always be remembered for their achievements this year. Well done girls!