This Sunday saw the second Charter Standard Adult Female Festival take place at Old Grammarians Sports Ground in Wellingborough. The Northamptonshire event has been running for several years now and provides a traditional warm up to the season in its 11 a side format. The tournament is only open to Charter Standard Adult clubs and is run with this ethos at its heart.
This year, four teams entered, including Northants' newest Charter Standard adult club, Thorplands Ladies. Each team played each other for one half of 30 minutes, meaning the total playing time was equal to that of a full match. Reigning holders, AFC Trinity came back to defend their shield and they were joined by Earls Barton Ladies and Kingsthorpe Ladies and Girls. Eileen Pacey - one of our local female referees - and Chair of our MDH Midshire's Girls' Football League took charge of one pitch while the other pitch was overseen by Peter Spink, who regularly referees in women’s football.
The first round of games saw Earls Barton with only 10 players, face the ever-strong AFC Trinity. Earls Barton had a young side and it was a tough start against Trinity but they did well, withstanding heavy pressure. The Earls Barton keeper, Katie Newman, kept Trinity at bay for at least 15 minutes making a string of good saves before Trinity finally made a breakthrough in second half of the match. The game finished 4-0.
The other first round game saw Kingsthorpe against Thorplands. Kingsthorpe had taken a fairly early lead in the game and it was the only goal that separated the two sides. Though Kingsthorpe seemed to just have the edge, Thorplands pressed and had the odd attempt on goal. It was widely recognised that the Thorplands team had improved over the summer and impressed all throughout the tournament.
