Match Report

Ely played in the National Cup qualifiers at under 15s, 17s and for the first time 20s.

First match of the day was the under 17s semi final against Herne Bay a team that beat Ely in the league the previous week. Ely had early chances but it was Herne Bay who took the lead which they then doubled. With 3 minutes before half time a cruel rebound off the back wall unsighted Hattie Ford in goal and a dubious high stick saw Herne Bay go 3 – 0 up. The second half was dominated by Ely but despite 2 directs they could get past the Herne Bay goalie who ended man of the match.

Ely under 17s entertained 4 teams at Soham in the recent tournament.  Ely were back to full strength after injuries had left them with no goalie and subs at the first tournament earlier the season.

Elys Senior A team finished the year with their home tournament at Soham. The day started with a tricky tie against Letchworth who have a couple of skilful players. Ely started slowly and it was the opposition who took the lead which was soon doubled. Ely pulled one back but went into the break 2 – 1 down. After the break Ely picked up the pace and scored 3 well taken goals to take a 2 goal lead. Some slack defending gave Letchworth their 3rd which wasn’t enough as Ely won 4 – 3 (scorers Max Dunand 2, Michael Hart and Hannah Barrow).

The under 13s played their home tournament at the Ross Piers and were looking to follow up a good start to the season in their last tournament when they won three out of four games.

Ely’s Senior B team are playing in the Eastern Counties Division 3 this season after winning Division 4 last season. The squad have had a couple of changes from last year with Paul Masterton  joining  Simon Thompson, Callum Thoday, Yasmine Hausler , Jake Haynes and Hattie Ford in goal.

The day started against the hosts for the day Norwich. Goals were a plenty at both ends but Ely managed to keep themselves in front gaining a 7 – 5 victory.

Ely had an early start in tournament 2 of the Eastern Counties Seniors 2nd Division.

Only the Ely girls team were in action at tournament 4 of the Eastern Counties under 15s 1st Division. The team expected another hard day against mostly boys teams and were still looking for their 1st win of the campaign.

Elys under 15s and 17s teams both saw the importance of having an experienced goalkeeper when they played in the recent Eastern Counties Leagues. James Walsh who is the keeper for both teams was out with a leg injury.

Ely were well represented in the recent England Ladies training trip to Portugal. As there is no Ladies league in the UK it gave the players chance to play top Ladies teams who play in the Portuguese National League.

4 Ely members  were in the under 17s squad, Vicky Moffat, Hattie Ford, Emily Barrow and Heather Dunand . Also inc was Alice Osbourne  who plays under 15s for the club as a second claim player, this meant Ely had 5 of the 6 outfielders. Hannah Barrow was in the seniors squad.

Ely U13's had their first tournament of the season at Letchworth in Eastern Counties Division 1, with newcomers Connor Botting and Zak Rush joining the team.Their first game against Cambridge proved a good starting point as the newly formed team worked together to gain an early win, Ryan Norton scoring within the first minute. A further 5 goals netted between Heather Dunand, Botting and Norton brought a comfortable lead of 6-0 at half time. Cambridge upped their game in the 2nd half, Ely only managing to score a further 3 goals,making the final result 9-0 to Ely.