The Cawston-based Red Rose girls’ football team played brilliantly through a total of four matches in successive weeks from mid-January in the preliminary rounds of the cup.

They won through to set up a quarter-final clash with Harford Belles, which they won with the last kick of the game to set up a semi-final match the following Saturday against unbeaten cup favourites Wymondham, who are top of the league.

The match proved a step too far for Red Rose who, despite battling for the full duration of the match, ended up losing 4-0. This left the team facing a Thetford side for a third-place play-off on Saturday 23 March.

The match was an even affair with the Red Rose girls having the better of the first half and going ahead after pressuring the opponents into a mistake after 20 minutes through an own-goal.

Despite having most of the attacking play the Cawston girls could not increase the lead, with the half time score 1-0.

The second half swung in favour of Thetford, who maintained most of the pressure and scored twice to win the match 2-1 and take the bronze medal.

Overall, the Cawston Red Rose girls were pleased to finish fourth in the trophy competition and record a successful season.

With a few league matches still to play, the Cawston-based team would be happy for any Year 6 girls to come along and train with the team, ready for the new season that starts in a few months.

Paul Willmott, Cawston Red Rose FC