Women’s Under-19s sink Billericay in pre-season

Our Women’s Under-19s produced an impressive second-half display with four superb finishes to conclude their pre-season with a 4-1 win over Billericay Town on Wednesday evening.

After a first half that lacked real quality in front of goal from both sides at Billericay School, the game needed a moment of magic in the second – and we certainly got that with four top-class finishes. Mia Endacott opened the scoring with a powerful effort from a tight angle before Grace Breen scored an outrageous free-kick from distance.

Faye Fields-Davis added a third, picking out the top corner from inside the box, and although the home side halved the deficit shortly after, we reinstated the three-goal advantage after a stunning effort from distance from Ruby Gaitely as the second half built positive momentum ahead of our first competitive game of season on Wednesday (20 August) – a trip to Luton Town in the FA Women’s National League Cup.

A stop-start first period in Essex, with chances few and far between, we did carve out a golden opportunity after just 30 seconds, Poppy Neill away down the left before sliding the ball across to Eloise Summers-Mee on the edge of the six-yard, but the young forward was unable to convert at the near post and minutes later, Summers-Mee struck the woodwork as her curling effort hit the crossbar after a lovely, weighted ball through from Holly-Mae Elmes on the halfway line to set her through on-goal.

Cairo-Evea Antoine, one of a number of changes at the break, was inches away from breaking deadlock just minutes after restart, curling narrowly over from the edge of the box on the far left but the opener eventually arrived on 62 minutes, Heidi Hills’ corner was flicked on by Grace Breen to Endacott to the right area of the box and, from a tight angle, she drilled home a first time effort into the far corner.

As we entered the final quarter of the contest, we doubled our advantage as Breen, from around 25 yards out, sent a powerful free-kick, with plenty of swerve on the ball, into the top right corner. Our third of the game came in the remaining seven minutes, the home side unable to clear Hills’ blocked effort before Nife Aramide teed up Fields-Davis to guide a first-time shot from just inside the box into the top left corner.

Billericay pulled a goal back in stoppage time after a moment of miscommunication at the back but, with the last kick of the encounter, we grabbed our fourth of the evening and another goal to add to the collection of ‘fantastic strikes’. Gaitely won possession back in midfield, produced a lovely turn to get away from the defender before firing home a low drive from around 25 yards out, rounding off a successful outing for our youngsters in pre-season.

"It’s the test we needed and the morale boost ahead of our first competitive game"

Reflecting on the game, Sabiha Jamal said: “It was arguably one of our best performances of pre-season. For us to dominate possession against a senior side, competing in tier three, it shows how far we’ve come in such a short space of time, as well highlighting the talent we have in the squad.

“This was a great way to end pre-season. The result, the performance, it reinforces all the hard work we have put on and off the pitch. Every single individual played their part and I’m proud of how brave they were trying to play in different ways, but also to be disciplined out of possession.  We did well to stay composed after the break, despite failing to score in the first half, and all four goals were a touch of class too! It’s the test we needed and the morale boost ahead of our first competitive game against Luton Town next week.”