Four youth league wins for Wee Toon footballers

A spokesperson for CDJFA said all teams played brilliantly, and thanked match sponsors – Kintyre Gas for both U12s games and Killegruer Caravan Site for the U11s – for helping with the costs of kit, facility hire, referee costs and end-of-season awards. 

It was a very busy weekend for CDJFA, with two girls’ teams competing in Scottish Women’s Football Youth Challenge Cup matches.

Campbeltown Pupils U16s, sponsored by Donnie Lawson Joinery, welcomed Giffnock Blacks to Campbeltown, but were beaten 3-1 by a very well organised team from Giffnock Soccer Centre.

Giffnock started fast and worked hard to score an early goal, earning their second 10 minutes later, with an excellent cut-back to the edge of the box and a well-struck shot that found the top corner. 

The young Pupils side continued to fight hard in the first half and created a couple of chances through the midfield runners.

The Pupils started the second half strongly, winning more of the duels, but they were caught on the counter with young Poppie, who is from Campbeltown but plays for Giffnock, scoring a deflected shot off the Pupils keeper to make it 3-0 to the visitors. 

The Campbeltown team refused to give up and, with ten minutes to go, some great play on the right midfield played through to Lily who slotted home a goal to reduce the deficit, with the game finishing 3-1.

“The U16s gave everything for their teammates and coaches and should be proud of their performance, as the coaches are certainly proud of them all,” said a CDJFA spokesperson, who also thanked Robertson Brothers for covering match hospitality for the U16 girls.

It was a heartbreaking result for the Campbeltown Pupils U14 girls, away against Dumbarton United, as they went out of the Challenge Cup in the cruellest of circumstances, losing 5-4 on penalties following a competitive 2-2 draw.

The Pupils took the lead through Esmee after a fantastic bit of pressure on Dumbarton’s right back resulted in winning the ball and finishing from inside the box. 

This was a well deserved goal as, just before, the Pupils had hit the bar and forced the Dumbarton keeper into a fantastic save with her foot after a great strike from Orlagh.

A poor start to the second half from the Pupils saw Dumbarton score twice with a couple of nicely taken goals from inside the Pupils box.

The Pupils made a couple of changes to get back into the game, with Emma moving into midfield, having started the game at centre back, and the Pupils drew level not long after through an excellent run and finish from Emma. 

Neither team had many chances to win the game in extra time and the game went to penalties, with Dumbarton scoring all five and progressing into the next round as a result.

“This was a fantastic effort from the young Pupils side who showed a lot of resilience, especially going 2-1 down early in the second half, with over half the team playing 11-a-side for the first time,” said the CDJFA spokesperson, who thanked coaches, parents and players for their efforts.