On Thursday we travelled to the Oxford Academy, looking to become the first girls’ team in our school’s history to qualify for the South West Regional Finals in Bristol.

We began with a match against Charlbury, who had qualified from the West Oxfordshire district. Although we dominated the game and created chance after chance, the all-important goal eluded us and we had to settle for a frustrating 0-0 draw.

Next up were St Nicholas from the Marston area of Oxford. We made the worst possible start, going a goal down in the opening minute. However, it did not take us long to regain our composure, with Freya unlucky to hit the bar towards the end. Sadly, it was to be another game without a goal, and we fell to our first defeat of the tournament.

Our third match was against a familiar foe in Goring, who had pipped us to first place in the previous qualifying round. We started the game with great energy and were delighted when our goal drought was brought to an end. Issy escaped down the right wing before firing over a low cross that was eventually bundled in by Isabella to seal our first victory of the day.  Morale was up, and we were buzzing.

The final match of the group stage was against another Oxford school, Windmill. This was another tight game that looked destined to end in a goalless draw before the opposition capitalised on a loose ball to snatch a 1-0 win and send themselves through to the semi-finals. As for us, we had finished fourth in the group stage and would now need to win a quarter-final match to join our opponents in the semi-finals.

Standing in our way was our first opponent of the day, Charlbury, who had finished in fifth position. The game very much followed the same script as our earlier contest, with us dominating but unable to convert our opportunities. As we were now in the knockout stages, the game could not be left as a draw, and we cautiously stepped into a penalty shootout.

As with many shootouts, this one was laced with drama. We missed our first two penalties, but were bailed out by Claudia, who remained sharp to save Charlbury’s first two penalties.

And then Issy stepped up.

She hammered her penalty into the top corner to give us a 1-0 lead.

Charlbury had to score.

They didn’t.

Through to the semi-final we went, bringing with us a mixture of adrenaline and relief as we prepared to take on St Nicholas, who had finished top of the group and beaten us earlier in the day.

With a combination of excitement, energy, desire and character, we showed no fear and launched attack after attack but yet again we could not find the goal that would’ve sent us through to the final. Unfortunately, St Nicholas did. An overhit clearance flew through the air, dipping downwards and not stopping until it had dropped underneath our crossbar and into the back of our net. It was our second 1-0 defeat to St Nicholas, and the goal that would bring our involvement in the ESFA competition to an end.

Despite not reaching the South West Finals, it was great to see the girls playing again. While we need to work on our composure in front of goal, the character building lessons – especially those provided by the penalty shootout – will hold us in good stead as we head into our league season and also aim to reach another Oxfordshire Final through our school partnership later in the year. A top effort all round, and we have plenty to look forward to.

As ever, a huge thanks to those who transported and supported us on the day.

The team was: Claudia V, Lili F, Nia B, Saule B, Eliza G, Isabella DS, Issy C, Bella B-L and Freya H.