SAWTRY hosted the region s biggest-ever Girls Football Tournament on Saturday. Over 400 girls from 56 teams travelled from 12 counties to compete in the Roy Green Cup. The tournament gave girls aged 9-13 the opportunity to play a high calibre of football

SAWTRY hosted the region's biggest-ever Girls Football Tournament on Saturday.

Over 400 girls from 56 teams travelled from 12 counties to compete in the Roy Green Cup.

The tournament gave girls aged 9-13 the opportunity to play a high calibre of football against opposition they would not normally have the opportunity to meet.

"Many teams have to travel for over an hour to get to a decent tournament, or face a good team, so to be able to put on such a big tournament is great," said organiser Steve Purnell, of Sawtry Colts.

The event was watched by Watford Ladies' Kelly Bingham, and she later took the opportunity to present trophies to the worthy winners and runners-up.

Bingham said: "'It's great to see so many girls here playing football.

"My message to them all has been that hard work and determination, along with the courage to take risks, can lead them to their chance of a life time."

The four age group finals were fiercely contested with three of them going to penalty shoot-outs.

Top age group winner were Coundon Court (Coventry), as the U13 girls proved too strong for their Linby Ladies counterparts, winning the final 2-1 in normal time.

At U10 level, Rugby won 5-4 on penalties after the match against Isle Lode (Kettering) had ended 1-1.

The U11 final between Cambridge City and Kettering Town ended goalless but Cambridge took the honours 4-3 in the shoot-out.

Another hard-earned goalless result was the outcome of the U12 match when Linby Ladies (Notts) met Hungate Rovers (Wisbech) with Linby snatching a 3-1 win from the spot.

Girls' football is growing fast at Sawtry Colts and any girls interested in giving football a try should contact Steve Purnell on 07964 496259 or steve.purnell@sawtrycolts.org.