Teddington Athletic's successful U13 girls team are seeking reinforcements for next season's expansion into 11-a-side football.
In their debut season (2013/14), the girls were crowned Division 2 League Champions, winning every game and scoring 100+ goals; this season, they finished fourth in the Premier Division while also reaching the Surrey League Cup Final.
Just as importantly, the girls play an exciting brand of pass-and-move football designed to equip them for a long relationship with the game – and have been described by managers in the league as "A breath of fresh air."
Furthermore, they have received holistic help from various sources. TV nutritionist Amanda Ursell, renowned mental-skills experts Gazing Performance Systems and Pilates instructor Narelle Mangham have all assisted this go-ahead team with their preparations.
Having enjoyed a fruitful tour of the Netherlands in 2014, the team are planning an extensive tour to Florida in summer 2016, including games against local clubs and visits to universities which offer courses to young women footballers.
If you would like to join the Teddington adventure, please email team manager Dave Waldron for more information at: tafcsharksandgirls@gmail.com. Girls must have been born between 1 Sep 2001 and 31 Aug 2003, and be able to play on Sunday morning.
Cup finals stay forever in the memory. The glory lingers, but so can the disappointment: the worry can be that a bad performance has a lasting after-effect. But Teddington need not worry on that score.
Fresh from retaining the Surrey FA Cup by beating fierce rivals AFC Wimbledon the previous week, Crystal Palace – still stinging from losing the league to the Dons – had their eyes firmly set on a consolatory cup double. For Teddington, two seasons into existence, it was a new experience to be enjoyed: changing rooms, handshakes before the game, proper referees – and medals to be played for, at Merstham FC's Moatside stadium.
Before the game, Sinead had shyly asked “Dave, is it OK if I shoot with my left foot today?” Obviously encouraged to do so, she almost put Teddington ahead with it in the first minute. A Jelly throw from deep on the right was flicked on by Doddsy, finding Sinead at the back stick, and her first-time effort ruffled the side netting.
Two minutes later, Palace were more accurate with their own left-foot finish. Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, the impressive No.9 turned, skipped past a couple of challenges and fired past Ruby’s left hand into the far side of the net.
It was a cruel early blow for Teddington, but they didn’t let it destroy them; furthermore, as Palace were now happier to let their opponents have the ball, the white shirts started to dominate possession and creation, with Phoebe a particular threat down the right.
On six minutes Pheebs switched play wide to Sinead, but despite her best efforts the left-sider couldn’t quite angle her body to take it with either her left or right foot and the ball rolled out of play. Then in the 12th minute Phoebe harried the left-back, dispossessed her and slammed a shot just wide of the near post.
If that was close, a minute later she got closer still. Jelly’s throws into the box were causing Palace problems and Phoebe profited from the confusion, hitting a first-time shot from eight yards that hit the far post with goalkeeper Rebekah Cooper stranded.
A minute later, Rebekah was called into action when Emily’s shot from a wide position arrowed towards the top corner. Teddington were making most of the running, and as usual it was through a team effort. The back two of Millie T (just about edging Parky out of the starting line-up) and Saskia (the Players’ Player of the Year) were composed when called upon, dealing with Palace’s sporadic forays forward and intelligently darting wide when their opponents attacked down the wings.
Sas and Mil, typically unassuming, would be quick to note the excellence of Jelly as an auxiliary third defender. The skipper for the day had been doubtful before the game, racked with a splitting headache, but she delivered a powerhouse performance at the heart of the team. Given the role of marking Palace’s ever-impressive dangergirl Rebecca Sobowale, Jelly displayed determination in the tackle but also superb reading of the game, frustrating the No.11 and nullifying Palace’s main attacking outlet.
And if Palace weren’t going to attack, Teddington certainly were. Two days after being crowned the Managers’ Player of the Year for her unwavering willingness to play in any role, diminutive dynamo Carla was everywhere at once – chasing the runners off Rebecca when Palace had the ball, then slipping into defence to cover the No.11 when Jelly strode out of defence with the ball.
In front of those four, the attacking unit were all energy and inventiveness. Coaches’ Player of the Year Emily probed and prompted in her usual acclaimed fashion, while Doddsy put in the hard yards and represented a significant physical presence in the opposition area. Meanwhile, Phoebe and Sinead ran the defence ragged as each girl sought her 40th career goal for the club.
Either could have achieved it just before half-time. As another Jelly long throw caused notable alarm among the Palace defenders and supporters, Phoebe fired in a textbook shot from four yards, but it bounced off a defender on the line, landing with Sinead who shot with astonishing speed but only into the side-netting.
Teddington had undoubtedly had more possession, passes and chances, but Palace are always a threat, even when ceding territory, and even when quietened Rebecca remains a danger up top. She had scored the cup-winner against Wimbledon the previous week by latching on to a long goal kick, and as Palace relieved the pressure with a clearance, she finally managed to find a way through the opposition defence.
Powering down the left flank after chasing an apparent cause, she cut inside onto her favoured right foot and fired in from the edge of the area – but Ruby was equal to the task and saved Palace’s first shot on target since the goal, more than half an hour before.
Having had much the better of the first half, Teddington didn’t need to make changes at the break. Palace rested Rebecca but demonstrated their threat within seconds, fizzing a snapshot wide of Ruby’s right-hand post.
Still, with Jelly slightly less busy defensively, Teddington had the chance to step up their assaults on the Palace goal. Seven minutes into the second period, Sinead once again outpaced her full-back and burst through on goal, and once again had the confidence to use that left foot – but once again Rebekah was equal to the shot.
Teddington pressed on, attacking at pace down either wing and threatening from throws and corners, and with 20 minutes left they got their clearest sight of goal. Their second successive flag-kick from the right was beautifully flighted to the edge of the six-yard box, where Doddsy had made a brilliant run to find herself free and unmarked – but with Palace prone and praying, her header whizzed marginally over the bar.
Had that (or any number of other half-chances) gone in, Teddington may well have gone on to beat Palace 2-1 again. As it was, the cup holders rallied and came back into the match. As Teddington tired and the defence naturally dropped deeper, that created the room for Palace’s excellent midfield metronome Mia Quintero to calmly spread the ball wide, where their wide midfielders – particularly the feisty Mia Lockett – started to pull Teddington out of position.
Even so, Palace were hardly foolhardy in committing numbers forward, and Ruby’s goal remained relatively unthreatened, with just the occasional shot or cross wafting wide: only in the final minute of normal time did Rube have a third and final on-target shot to stop. However, Teddington were also running out of ideas, passing with more haste than taste.
As the Whites’ management rolled the dice, the unlucky and bitterly disappointed Sinead made way for the increasingly impressive Amy Hallett. In her debut season, mainly rotating wide right and up front with Phoebe, the pocket rocket had contributed 14 goals to the title-winning cause; this campaign has been more disrupted, but pleasingly mature, as lately Amy has shown herself capable of immediately adapting to any requested position in midfield or attack.
On this occasion she was unable to change the course of events but Amy can look forward to next season: her combative intelligence will thrive in the 11-a-side game.
Also thrown into the fray late on was Ale Fairn. Arguably Teddington’s most natural striker, Ale has endured a second season of more stops than starts as she struggled with chronic ankle problems. Hopefully she will come back for the new season refreshed and ready for a new challenge.
The move to 11-a-side will bring increased chances for other valued members of the squad. Sadie Day has also had some absences and injuries – not least the infamous toe-nail – but whenever called upon she has brought gutsy guile to the right wing.
On the other flank, Millie MacEacharn may not always believe in herself but the management certainly do: she has proven, even against the biggest teams, that she has the ability to beat the best. At the back, Parky will be available to complete a triumvirate of committed yet creative defenders, freeing Jelly up to dominate play from further forward, which in turn will give players like Doddsy and Emily (33 goals between them this term) more licence to get up the sharp end – while the wider spaces of the bigger pitch should give even more room to rev up for pacy wingers Sinead and Phoebe.
One or two new recruits may arrive, but only to improve the quantity rather than the quality. Given the inevitability of other commitments and injuries, regularly filling a 15-girl matchday squad may require 17 signed-on players, and Teddington are currently down to 14. Sophie Wallman, the only Cup Final absentee, has made the reluctant but understandable decision to concentrate on her various other pursuits – a pity for the management, as she was showing increasing intelligence on the pitch to match her undoubted energy and application. She will be missed, but she will always be welcome along.
In only their second season, Teddington have met with adversity and triumph. Every loss is a lesson learned, and this valiant Cup Final defeat was no exception: the management have picked up some tactical nuances for the next time the teams meet, while the players should have every confidence that they can beat the double cup-winners again.
After the game, affable Palace boss Rick Lockett acknowledged that Teddington “have been a breath of fresh air in the league this season” and were the better team in the final. Let’s make no bones about it, this is a very good team that were pushed all the way. In three competitions, the double cup-winners only lost twice this season: to Wimbledon and Teddington. That is the standard to which the team must aspire, and it’s one they will be confident of reaching in the new expanses of 11-a-side.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ruby Rudkin, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Ella V, Carla Novakovic, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson, Sinead Morris, Phoebe Head. Subs Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Sadie Day, Millie MacEacharn, Ale Fairn.
Pictures above by David Theobald, below by Richie Coulson. Many more of David's pics on the video below (click the rectangle at bottom right to enlarge). Thanks to all the parents: we couldn't do this without you.
