On one of the hottest Saturdays yet this year, a highly enthusiastic Valley Youth girls team stepped onto the sweltering pitch for the beginning of the 6th Annual Hong Kong Youth Tournament.

Although we were only able to field a team of 8, their lack of substitutes was more than overcome by their determination and passion for the game. This tournament was the first chance the girls had to play together as a team but it only took a few minutes on the pitch to find a rhythm and mould into a solid unit.

Strong and courageous defence from the back line repelled the opponents in our half with Hannah Sidorko blocking a number of shots during the HYS A game. Excellent tracking back by Ruth Sanders and Nicole Roldan ensured that we repelled all attacks, including 2 games in which Allyson Chan helped to keep clean sheets.

Our hardworking midfield of Kati Milne and Renee Meurs built an excellent and solid platform for strikers Shannon Cleary and Kate Rawson to let wild up front, the two styles complimenting each other in a lovely way, producing 2 outstanding goals against CDR, in a match we won 2-0.

In our last match of the day, against tournament favourites KCC, our girls dug deep and produced a sensational defensive performance, holding KCC scoreless for the duration of the match after we had conceded an unlucky early goal.

After the final whistle of the tournament, Valley and HYS B were tied for third place. The drama of the day was to be taken up a notch, however, as tournament organisers decided on a playoff to seperate the two teams -- with 1-v-1s with the goalkeeper!

The girls had 10 seconds to beat the goalkeeper one-on-one, the ball starting on the 25 yard line. Renee, Shannon and Kate bravely stood up to challenge the menancing HYS keeper, and took excellent penalties, leaving Allyson with an opportunity to win 3rd place for Valley. She duly obliged, pulling off a outstanding saves to deny the HYS forward, and winning the girls bronze medals in the process!

What a fantastic results for the much anticipated first and last game of the youth girls season, I look forward to seeing our upcoming superstars in action next season!

Sharon Leung