British College Sport National football final 2008 Women's football plate Suffolk New College 3 Cornwall Colleges 5 YOUNG soccer players from Duchy College at Stoke Climsland are celebrating, after their team clinched the women's football plate at Nuneaton Borough FC. The girls, Louise Galway, Becca Allen, Amy Cooper, Rhianne Parsons, Nicky Lake, Robynne Honey, Chloe Roberts, Emma Stewardson, Sam Blake, Lisa Drummond, make up the mainstay of the Cornwall Colleges team, which beat Suffolk New College in the final. Manager Gary Jeffery said: 'The BCS cups are the largest football events in further education and simply getting to the final is an achievement in itself. ' As referee Craig Gee blew his whistle to start the match, no one could have predicted the drama that unfolded. Both sides started with a high tempo to their game as they looked to take an early advantage, and it was not long before Suffolk did just that. A period of pressure for the Ipswich based side saw an opportunity for Harriet Snook, whose shot evaded the desperate efforts of Cornwall goalkeeper Louise Galway to give Suffolk a quick advantage. Any celebrations were soon cut short, however, when a fast break from Sam Blake enabled the Cornwall centre forward to level the scores with a clever lob over the stranded Keri Burley in the Suffolk goal. With both teams getting a goal out of their system, the game started to settle down and it was Suffolk who really began to take a stranglehold on the first half. Kayleigh Harwood, who scored 21 goals for Suffolk this season coming into the final, was proving to be a real handful for the Cornwall defenders, and she soon added to her impressive tally with a cool finish to make the score 2-1. Thirty minutes into the half it became 3-1 to Suffolk, Harwood again proving too hot for Cornwall with her second strike of the game. As half time drew closer, Suffolk continued to push hard, and once more Harwood broke clear of the defence. As she approached the onrushing Galway, she poked the ball past her and neither player could avoid a collision. Harwood took a nasty blow to the head forcing her substitution, and with official Gee waving away any claims for a foul, Cornwall escaped without conceding a fourth goal which could have been a fatal blow to their chances. The second half proved to be another one sided affair except this time it was Cornwall who dominated proceedings. They responded in the perfect way, reducing the deficit to just one goal. Chloe Roberts, who was beginning to exert a real influence on the game, tucked away a clinical finish to make it 3-2 and give Cornwall real hope going into the second period. The Duchy-based Cornwall Colleges side started to pass the ball with pace and it wasn't long before they drew level, Robynne Honey scoring a goal that had been on the cards since the beginning of the half. Suffolk, despite their best efforts, just couldn't find the form they had shown at the front end of the match, and slowly but surely Cornwall edged ahead. Sam Blake, scorer of the first goal, delivered a killer blow with 20 minutes remaining when she slotted home a fourth goal to the delight of her team mates. Suffolk fought back but couldn't find the opening they craved, and when Cornwall added a fifth goal late on through Roberts, it was the killer blow bringing glory to the Cornwall players. Player of match Robynne Honey said initially, the team were intimidated by the strength of the opposition. She said scoring a goal from a corner early in the second half to equalise the score felt 'really good'. 'I thought it was a bit of a fluke but after that, we began to believe in ourselves more, we really fought for the match in the second half,' said Robynne. Manager Gary Jeffery added: I'm so proud of all the girls involved, they worked hard and battled. To turn the game around after half time being 3-1 down shows me how much character these girls have, the experience alone is awesome and the effort they showed was brilliant. Credit to themselves and Cornwall Colleges. I'm so, so pleased.'
