FOOTBALL
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CARINYA’s Under 15 girls’ football team is preparing for a major assignment.
The Tamworth schoolgirls’ side is through to the third round of the Bill Turner Trophy and will play Narrabri at Narrabri tomorrow.
Winning that will award the Carinya side a home match against either Armidale, Tenterfield, or Macintyre High, with the winner going on to the next level.
The Bill Turner competition is one of the world’s largest, with more than 400 schools and 6000 players competing across NSW, Victoria, ACT, and QLD.
While the Trophy is for the girls, the Bill Turner Cup is for the boys and, unfortunately, Carinya’s boys’ team lost to Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in their first round.
Carinya’s progression in the Bill Turner Cup hasn’t been easy.
They have earned next month’s Narrabri match following a thrilling extra-time win over Tamworth High.
The Carinya girls were knocked out in the first round by THS last year, and took their revenge this year with a great display.
The game finished 2-all in regular time and went in to drop-off extra time, where a player leaves each team every five minutes and first goal wins.
In a tight period of play neither side could break the other’s defence, and both sides were down to seven players.
In the final minute, before the game went to penalties, Carinya keeper Lauren Jones kicked out of her goal, the ball bounced and fell on to the foot of Carinya striker and star Phoebe Cave.
Cave weaved through the line to find herself one on one with the keeper and nailed it into the back of the net to win the match.
Carinya Sports co-ordinator Charles Bickersteth said that the girls were really playing well as a team.
“It was a great win,” Bickersteth said.
“We have never been this far in the competition before.”
Cave is a member of the U13s NIF program and is the star of the Carinya side.
She has scored four of the five goals, one a brilliant header from a corner straight out of the Premier League, according to Bickersteth.
She is joined by captain and fellow representative player Jacinta Thornton up front.
“They are working well as a team and I think we can go further,” Bickersteth said.