Ardingly Girls win the Sussex Cup and Qualify for the National Finals 6 a side

Sussex Cup Final
Ardingly are Sussex Champions for the first time after a 2-2 draw with St Andrews saw them share the trophy.  The visitors had won the tournament for the last four years but Ardingly were fired up for their first ever appearance in the final.  The first half was a tense affair and both teams had chances, with Cara and Vicky doing well in defence to break up any attacks.  Goalless at half-time, Ardingly came out flying after the interval and took the lead when Naomi Shaw was on hand at the back-post after good work from Amber and Phoebe.  Things got even better when Phoebe found space in the D and scored with a reverse stick finish.  The game was end-to-end and St Andrews were having plenty of chances but these were either put wide or impressively saved by Alexa and it looked like Ardingly may hold on.  However, with less than 5 minutes to go St Andrews pulled one back with a powerful finish and in the final minute, a couple of defensive errors saw St Andrews draw level.  

At the end of a pulsating match a draw was probably the fair result but credit must go to both teams who put on a superb performance in one of the best matches at Ardingly for many a year.  Ardingly could be very proud of their efforts and deserve to be called County Champions after a wonderful season.  

1st XI Squad 2009: Alexa Morgan, Vicky Crawford, Cara Rocks, Maddy Mann, Aubrie Willifer, Alice Harvey, Zoe Andrews, Beth Giddings, Phoebe Spuyman, Amber Kemp, Harriet Shore, Micki Green, Naomi Shaw, Flo Ertl.  

National IAPS South Qualifiers
An excellent performance by Ardingly saw them qualify for the National IAPS Finals for the first time.  The girls made their customary slow start in a 1-0 defeat to Danes Hill but it was the wake-up call they needed.  In the next game they beat Hawthorns 2-0 (Phoebe x 2), dispatched Twyford 1-0 (Amber), saw off Dragon School 1-0 (Beth) and when they needed to beat Chigwell in their final game to qualify for the play-offs, they moved up another gear with a 4-0 triumph, Phoebe with all the goals.  

This secured a second place finish in the group and a play-off against the winners of the other group, Cranleigh, for a place in the National Finals.  Cranleigh have also had an excellent year with their only defeat coming against Ardingly earlier in the season so it was going to be a tight game.  Amber gave Ardingly the lead but with just seconds to go, Cranleigh finally found a way past the excellent Alexa.  This meant golden-goal extra-time and when Ardingly were awarded a short corner, Zoe smashed a shot into the bottom corner to send her team through to the National Finals.  

Squad: Alexa Morgan, Vicky Crawford, Cara Rocks, Beth Giddings, Zoe Andrews, Amber Kemp, Phoebe Spuyman, Harriet Shore.