REDLANDS REBELS 4

POOLE TOWN WESSEX 0

REDLANDS Rebels Under-13s lifted the Dorset County Cup with a comprehensive 4-0 victory against Poole Town Wessex.

In addition to this, the club’s their under-11 side also claimed the cup with a victory over Poole Town Youth.

The Rebels went into their clash, which was held in freezing cold and snowy conditions at Blandford, in good form as they sat top of the Dorset Girls’ League table.

To get to this point, the Rebels had enjoyed impressive results, with a 2-1 win over Wool & Winfrith, a 6-2 success at Merley Cobham and a 3-1 victory against Bournemouth Sports.

They were without one of their star players in Ellie Harvey so the other Redlands players knew they had to collectively lift their performances.

Fortunately, they did straight from the whistle and they soon went ahead as a close-range shot was deflected into the net by an unfortunate Poole player for an own goal.

Minutes later, Redlands went 2-0 up when captain Cerys Murphy was on hand at the back post to finish clinically.

With 20 minutes gone, the game was as good as over as striker Olivia Conning used her pace and power to sprint clear of the defence and finish superbly.

In fairness to Poole, they rallied and Redlands’ keeper Renee Marquis had to be at her best to make a couple of saves but her side’s defence stood firm.

The second half followed much the same vein with Redlands on top but Poole defending resiliently.

Finally mid-way through the second half, Redlands scored their fourth and final goal and it was the impressive Conning who again scored with a neat finish.

A delighted Redlands’ manager Tim Davis said: “The girls were magnificent. They work so hard at training and thoroughly deserve their success.

“We have some superb young players coming through in all our age groups and hopefully a large number will graduate to our new ladies’ team as they grow older.”