DESPITE a valiant effort the South Under-18 girls were pegged back to a fourth-placed finish at the Inter-District Tournament at Forthbank, Stirling.
First up was a game against Midlands, who had looked strong and sharp against East in their first match.
This was indeed the case and, following a reasonable performance from the Borders outfit and some great saves by goalkeeper Emma Turnbull, they were a little unlucky to come off with a 5–2 loss. Both goals were scored by Chloe Gillard, one in each half.
West were the next opponents and the South team started badly by gifting a goal in the first few minutes. Quick to make amends, they soon drew level with a strike from Emily Stewart which set the pattern of the game, West scoring and South pulling it back.
The second goal from the South was a well-taken flick high over the keeper’s head from Lucy Ramsay following some good work from twin Gina, to make the half-time score 2–2.
West then scored again before Claire Hill equalised from a well-taken penalty corner and then, just into the last minute, with a superb goal from open play she put the South ahead. A lack of focus, however, allowed West to score with 40 seconds left on the clock and the local lasses were left with only a single point instead of three from the game.
East were next up with an extremely strong team and so it proved as they beat South 7-1. Chloe Gillard scored their only goal from a penalty corner in the first half.
A determined South team took to the pitch in the last game against North. Rachel Stewart and Sarah Dagg proved solid in defence and Tamara Cook made some excellent saves to keep the opposition out, apart from one solitary goal in the first half. Constant pressure paid off after the break and with Claire Hill again scoring from a penalty corner and Lucy Ramsay from open play.
South finished with a 2–1 win to put them in fourth place overall, but had they won the West game they would actually have finished runners-up and so weren’t too far away in a very closely-fought competition, apart from East, who were the runaway winners.
South Under-18s: Sarah Dagg, Rachel Stewart, Emily Stewart, Chloe Gillard, Amber Cuthers, Tamara Cook, Claire Hill, Gina Ramsay, Lucy Ramsay (all Kelso HS), Emma Turnbull, Nicola Whealleans (both Berwickshire HS), Vicky Ross (Selkirk HS).