Women’s Under-19s progress in Capital Cup after impressive display at Dulwich

Our Women’s Under-19s put in a professional display to book their spot in the quarter-final of the Capital Cup after a 2-0 win at Dulwich Hamlet on Sunday afternoon.

Having netted a brace earlier in the week against Leicester City, Jhanaie Pierre was heavily involved in our opening goal at Champion Hill, her low cross eventually turned into her own net by Zahra Cheeseman as we capitalised on a positive first period against senior opposition.

We were indebted to some sensational saves from Eleanor Heeps, whose experience led our young group to an important victory, alongside some important blocks from Grace Breen in the second half to maintain our one-goal lead before a stunning curling effort into the top corner from Grace Bellwood doubled our advantage in the closing stages of the tie.

The hosts pulled a goal back in the first minute of stoppage time to create a nervy end to the contest, but we held on to secure our spot in the final eight of the competition – with a trip to London Bees up next.

Sabiha Jamal named a young squad that travelled to east London as four Under-16s were involved, including a start for midfielder Waris Deria, and four first years from the Under-19s group, but our youngsters stood up well against an experienced and seasoned senior side in the fourth tier of Women’s football.

While Champion Hill welcomed over 400 supporters through the turnstiles, we were unfazed by the challenge and started with positive intent in east London, although Dulwich struck the woodwork on 18 minutes as a low corner from the right bounced against the outside of the post before Maria Andrade headed wide from just outside the six-yard box in their best opportunity of the first period. We began to spread open the Dulwich backline, Breen’s lovely ball over the top set Cruz Fuller-Fagan through on the right, she advanced to the byline and tried to cut back to Bellwood in the centre of the box, but Dulwich defender intercepted the pass.

However, on 35 minutes, we managed to capitalise on our strong start and open the scoring in the clash, Bellwood with good hold-up play before playing it out wide to Pierre, she advanced down the left-hand side before sending a low cross into the box, the ball ricocheted off Cheeseman back from her own defender and into the back of the net. Breen then saw a curling free-kick from the edge of the box saved low by Cheeseman as we went into the break with a one-goal advantage.

We picked up where we left off in the opening minutes of the restart and had a good chance to double our lead, a short corner saw Heidi Hills swing in from deep and the ball fell kindly to Bellwood inside the area, but her effort was straight at Cheeseman before Pierre drilled low and wide of the target. The hosts still posed a threat and Breen had to be alert to get across to block Leila Emmerson’s shot from inside the area.

Heeps was then called into action shortly after as a hooked ball into the box fell to Andrade but our shot stopper stood up strong and denied her shot with her feet and, six minutes later, she produced another fantastic save to deny Emmerson once again, getting a strong hand to her powerful effort from the left of the box. We then had a 10-minute spell where we were down to 10 players after Oukriss was sin-binned for dissent which saw us withstand enormous pressure from Dulwich in that period, but our young side managed the situation well and, in the 78th-minute, we went at the other end to grab our second of the afternoon – and arguably a goal-of-the-season contender.

After some excellent work by Hills to find Bellwood outside of the box on the left, the forward, with her back to goal, cut inside and sent a wonderful curling effort into the far top corner – sparking jubilant celebrations between players and staff. Despite being two goals down, Dulwich pushed for a way back into the contest, Jess Francis-Weir striking the underside of the crossbar from distance but, in the first minute of stoppage, they halved the deficit when Andrade poked home from close range despite another superb block by Breen in the build-up. That was the last chance though as the whistle blew moments later, giving us a massive win on the road and progress in the cup.

"We showed good teamwork, good physicality and mentality throughout the game"

Speaking on the game and her performances this week, Pierre added: “I feel like we fought from minute one to 90th-minute, we showed what we are about and we can do on the pitch this afternoon. It was a great performance, we had a good number of players on the bench who could change stuff, even those ones who didn’t get on the pitch in the end. Many of our players haven’t played senior level or against older players, but we showed good teamwork, good physicality and mentality throughout the game. I feel it has been a great two games for me and the team as well, we’re hitting positive momentum at the right time, so hopefully we can just keep our performances high and consistently.”

Match data

Goals: Dulwich - Andrade 90+1; Spurs - Cheeseman OG 35, Bellwood 78.

Yellow cards: Spurs - Barraclough 45+3, Hills 65, Oukriss 69.

Venue: Champion Hill.

Weather: Overcast with a few sunny spells, 10 degrees.