U/17 Girls: Caledonia – NAGS –28th Feb & 1st Mar –Sandwell. Report.

Published: 02 March 2026

Caley U/17’s headed down to Sandwell in West Bromwich last weekend to try and qualify for the NAGS finals for the first time.

After a long journey by car or train, we faced two games on Saturday and one on Sunday with each game 4 x 7mins playing time. We were placed in the four team Group A with Cheltenham, Worthing and City of Liverpool and needed to be placed 2^nd in the group to qualify. We travelled down with 13 players with Eleanor Campbell and Charlotte Smith joining the team replacing Lily O’Neil and Rosie Hookham who were part of the team who did well to qualify from the Preliminary tournament in Gloucester.

Tournament details:

Team:

Day 1 - Game 1 v Cheltenham: 11:50

This was a very close and exciting contest where there was never any more than 2 goals between the sides. Both teams defended strongly and found it difficult to score. We took an early 2 goal lead through Ksenia (penalty) and Charlotte, but Cheltenham came fighting back to score 4 goals in a row to lead 4-2. A penalty goal by Ksenia with just 1 second on the period 2 clock and an early period 3 goal by Ava gave us parity at 4-4. Cheltenham went ahead again before Charlotte equalised at the end of period 3. Charlotte put us ahead at 6-5 before Cheltenham scored two to lead 7-6. We continued to work hard and with just 11 secs on the clock Ksenia equalised at 7-7 with her 3^rd penalty of the game to take the game into a penalty shoot-out. Unfortunately, we missed two of our efforts so Cheltenham won 11-10. A disappointing final outcome after working so hard to create many goal scoring opportunities but we just lacked a little composure and accuracy in front of goal.

Day 1 - Game 2 v Worthing: 16:10

Having lost our first game, we now knew that we had to win our next match v Worthing to have a chance of qualifying for the finals.  Worthing this year were a young and inexperienced team who had already lost heavily to the City of Liverpool earlier in the day. Great credit to our team however as we remained focused throughout the match with strong press defence and continuous counter attacks to win comfortably 29-8 with period scores of 10-2, 4-1, 9-3 and 6-2. This was a very strong and controlled performance in which 8 members of our team were on the scoresheet and all players enjoyed equal and sizeable water time to make positive contributions to the win.

Goal scorers were:  Ava 4, Hali 6, Charlotte 6, Eleanor 2, Isla 2, Libby D 1, Ailsa D 3 and Ksenia 5.

Day 2 - Game 3 v City of Liverpool (CofL): 11:10

As we lined up for our final game of the weekend v City of Liverpool (CoL), they had already qualified having beaten both Worthing and Cheltenham on the first day: We could qualify with a win or a draw and then winning the penalty shootout.

The girls were ready to go and made a very positive start to the game winning the first half 6-4. The 1^st period was very tight. Eleanor opened the scoring from the perimeter when we were 6v5 before CoL equalised at CF. They attacked strongly and we conceded 3 penalties and 3 exclusions, but they only managed to score 1 penalty with 1 miss and 1 save by Eve. We defended well though and saved all three 5v6’s before Ksenia scored for a 2-1 lead. As both teams attacked and defended strongly, we scored two, by Ksenia and Ava both when 6v5 to Liverpool’s 3 for a 4-4 scoreline with less than two minutes on the period clock. A quick double, by Ksenia again and Ailsa at CF within the last 30 seconds gave us a 6-4 lead at half-time. An excellent performance so far.

As the starting girls were beginning to tire, with hindsight, I should have made some changes to use our bench more during per 3 to give our older players some recovery rest and our younger players more experience and challenge in the water. We lost the period 3-0 as our attackers found it difficult to find the energy and accuracy to score from open play and when 6v5 against a very strong GK. Trailing 7-6 going into the last period our girls showed great determination however to keep pushing themselves and shared the first 4 goals to be trailing only 8-9 with 3 mins to go. Liverpool increased their lead to 10-8. Although tired, we kept working to gain two exclusions and a penalty but unfortunately, we couldn’t convert under defensive pressure.

Well done to Liverpool on their 10-8 win and to them and Cheltenham on their qualification for the finals. Well done to our girls too though for all their positive effort throughout the weekend and for pushing both teams so closely in just coming up short.

Many thanks to all the players for their efforts over the weekend. To continue our development, training will continue on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s as follows:

6:30pm and 8:00pm - 2011’s and 2012’s.

7:15pm to 9:00pm for 2010’s and 2009’s.

8:00pm to 9:30pm for 2008’s and Senior women.

I look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday when DWPC and Menzieshill will play against each other in an U17 game at Carnegie.

Many thanks too to Jillian, Julie and Leanne for all their excellent team support, organisations and social media communications and to parents Danny and Clo, Paul, Stuart, Pauline and David for providing transport along with Sharon and Ruby team support. 

Match Report - SNL U19 Girls – DWPC v Menzieshill

Published: 23 February 2026

Sunday 22^nd February – 2026 - NSA – Stirling

Dunfermline WPC’s U19 girls played their 5^th game of the 205/26 season with a return fixture against Caley team-mates and friends, Menzieshill & Whitehall. Having played the last game between the teams with just 7 players we were pleased to welcome Hali, Isla and Rosie (for her 1^st game at U19 level) to our team for this game. Credit to Menzieshill who were able to line up with a full squad of 13 players. What followed, was a very exciting match where both teams gave their all, which was tied until 10 seconds on the per 4 match clock, when Ava scored a final goal to give us a narrow 8-7 win. Very well done to our team for the win but also to Menzieshill for their part in a very competitive match played in the correct spirit.

Per 1: The first period was closely fought with players finding it difficult to find clear shooting space against strong defending and good goalkeeping at both ends with Eve Fielding and Ksenia Mann. We did very well to gain 3 penalties and two exclusions but unfortunately, we were able to convert only 1 penalty through Ava to lead 1-0 at the end of the 1^st period.

Per 2: Our play was very controlled in this period, defending strongly, keeping possession well and countering in numbers. Ruby O increased our lead with a nice perimeter shot before Ava scored her 2^nd penalty. Both teams gained exclusions, but neither were able to convert their 6v5 opportunities. We led 3-0 at the halfway point and were playing well.

Per 3: Big credit to Menzieshill who fought back really strongly in this period. Adopting a very active drop defence to crowd out our CF position, we found it very difficult to score from out on the perimeter. M’Hill capitalised on our missed opportunities countering strongly to score 5 goals in a row through Ailsa Duncan (2 at CF), Erin Livie (2 at P1) and Ksenia who scored from a rebound to lead 3-5. The game momentum had switched. Positively though we managed to score with just 18 seconds on the clock through Hali to reduce arrears to 4-5 at the three-quarter stage.

Per 4: Exactly as in our last game v MH, the final period was an exciting and end to end affair as both teams went toe to toe to try and gain a victory. M’Hill increased their lead through Libby Wallace at CF before Ava scored quickly after to reduce arrears again to one. Both teams were attacking with intent and purpose and 5 exclusions were gained in short order, three by DWPC and two by MH. Unfortunately, despite time-outs being called by both coaches, neither team could convert under high defensive pressure. Hali then scored two quick goals on the counter-attack before Libby W scored her 2^nd goal of the period to draw level at 7-7. With the clock counting down, we managed to steal the ball and release Ava on the counter to score past Ksenia for an 8-7 victory. Very well played girls.

Game Reflections:

Well done to both teams for such an exciting and closely fought contest. Player familiarity meant that both hardworking defences could often anticipate opposition attacking tactics leading to a relatively low scoring match. Positively though, this contest and the challenges posed within it was a great preparation for upcoming NAGS competitions at both U/17 & U19 level under the combined Caledonia banner.

Going forward we should continue our excellent work rate whilst focusing on:

• Releasing strongly v defensive pressure to receive a pass or move the ball on accurately.
• Our 6v5 play.
• Our penalty shooting against a strong GK.
• Our perimeter shooting and decision making against an active drop defence.
• The accuracy of our final pass in 2 v 1 counter-attack situations

Match Statistics:

1. Team & Goal scorers ( ): Eve Fielding, Ruby Oswald (1), Ava Thornton (4), Hali Farah (2), Ruby Reid, Poppy Reid, Isla Edwards (1), Rosie Hookham, Molly Oswald, EllieThornton.
2. Exclusions/Pens conceded: Ava (1exc) Ruby R (2 exc), Isla (1 exc).
3. Man-up – 6 gained - 0 scored (0%) - Man-down: 4 conceded – 4 saved. (100%)
4. Penalties: 4 gained - 2 scored – (50%) – 0 conceded.

Match Report U/17 Girls: Caledonia – NAGS –7th & 8th February 2026 – Gloucester

Published: 16 February 2026

Caley U/17’s headed down to Gloucester last weekend aiming to emulate our U/19 team by qualifying for the next Qualification Round. After a long journey in poor weather, we faced two games on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each game would be 4 x 7mins playing time. We were placed in a four team Group A, with West Edinburgh (Stingrays) in the four team Group B. We travelled down with 13 players with five 2010’s in the last year at this age group and eight younger 2011’s and 2012’s gaining valuable experience for next year. Despite a disappointing first game, the girls rallied brilliantly to win their 2^nd and 3^rd games convincingly to achieve our objective. Very well done to the team.

In terms of our performances: we started the first game v Beckenham quite strongly and had parity at the end of per 1 and only trailed by three at half-time. A combination of many missed chances and an inability to curb the tournaments top goalscorer Issy Hayes however meant that the game got away from us in the 2^nd half to lose 7-16.

It is to the team’s credit that they rallied strongly and put in a really determined, controlled and hardworking effort against Otter (who beat us at U19 level) with excellent defence, consistent counter attacks and most importantly accurate shooting at the right time. To win 19-7 was beyond our expectation and meant that a win against City of Coventry the next day would see us qualify. Although losing to Otter, the Coventry girls put up a good fight against Beckenham with two of their players scoring 8 goals between them and so we were expecting a tough contest. Unfortunately, neither of these players were available for the game and this weakened Coventry significantly. Our team took full advantage however pressurising the less experienced opposition and then countering strongly. All our players enjoyed significant water time and it was really positive that our 27 goals were spread across nine of our players.

Tournament details:

Team:

• 15 players have so far declared availability for the next Qualification Round – Sat 28/02 to Sun 1/03/26. We will travel Fri 27/02. A team selection will be made soon.
• We have been drawn against:
  • Cheltenham – Saturday
  • Worthing – Saturday
  • City of Liverpool - Sunday
• There will be a training opportunity in Dunfermline – Tues 17^th Feb – 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm for the U17’s and 8:00pm to 9:30pm for the U19’s
• Sat 21^st February – Carnegie – Meet 12:40 for both U17 & 19’s
• Please complete the availability polls.

Many thanks to all the players for their efforts, to Jillian, Julie and Leanne for all their excellent team support and organisations, to parents Danny, Gary, Paul and Claire, Clare and Eddie, Stephen and David for providing transport and support. Hopefully see you in Sandwell.

Match Report: Stirling v DWPC/M’Hill Senior Ladies– SNL

Published: 16 February 2026

Sunday 15th December 2026 – NSA Stirling.

After a 5-10 defeat to rivals Warrender in our last game in December, DWPC/M’Hill lined up with just 10 players (Ava, Lucy Mc, Ksenia and Millie were unavailable for their next game v Stirling at the NSA. Stirling had their full complement of 14 players listed so we were expecting a very challenging game. In a very hard working and controlled attacking and defensive performance, where all players shared water time, the team did excellently to always lead and win the contest 19-11 with 7 of our 9 outfield players scoring. Very well done girls.

Per 1: Zara started in goal and the early exchanges were closely fought as Kayleigh opened the scoring with an excellent perimeter shot as Stirling dropped back on CF Julia, but Zoe Cherrie equalised quickly from a drive. Our defensive press was working however limiting Stirling’s offensive threat as we then drove forward and gained and scored two 6v5’s through Molly and Julia. Disappointingly a defensive miscommunication right on the period 1 buzzer allowed Stirling to pull one goal back through Georgia Ross. We lead though, 3-2 at the period end.

Per 2: This was an excellent match winning period for the team as we applied a really strong defensive press, attacked intelligently to score 6 goals in a row through Kayleigh, Julia 3, Molly 2 and Erin. Stirling pulled one back through GR’s second, but Lucy H scored at the period end for a 7-1 period score and a 10-3 lead at halftime.

Per 3: Eve replaced Zara in goal at the start of the period as Stirling came fighting back as our defensive and attacking structures became a bit ragged. They changed to an aggressive defensive press with increased driving and managed to score 5 with just one in reply (Julia) in the first part of the period. After time-out however the team re-established their defensive concentration and fought back to win the last part of the period 4-1 with goals from Susan, Erin, Kayleigh and Julia to lead 15-9 at the three quarter stage.  

Per 4: 4 goals were shared at the start of the final period with our goals by Molly and Kayleigh but after our 2^nd time out our defence was strong to stop Stirling scoring further and despite gaining and missing two 6v5’s we added two more goals to the total through Zara and Kayleigh to win the period 4-2 for a final win of 19-11.

Reflections:

This was an excellent performance where all our players made positive contributions. For the most part we defended strongly and made good attacking decisions on shot selection. Our 6v5 was very good at 67% and to concede two exclusions was testament tour defensive organisation. Going forward, hopefully we can see better attendance at training to work on our attacking flexibility and technical and physical capacities.

• Match summary:

1. Team: Goals(): Eve Fielding GK , Erin Livie (1), Libby Wallace, Julia MacKay (6), Lucy Hughes (1), Molly Meldrum (4), Catlin O’Malley, Susan Johnston (1), Kayleigh Roy (5) Zara Christie (1)
2. Exclusions/Penalties (): Susan (2 exc),
3. Man-up: 4 scored from 6 attempts (67%) – Penalties: 0/1
4. Man-down: 1/2 saved (67%) – Penalties conceded: 0