BWLGFC U17s win Challenge Cup

Wanderers' Ladies & Girls' Under-17 side continue their success this term with cup success after previously winning their respective division

Bolton Wanderers Ladies Under-17s completed a league and cup double by running out 3-1 winners after extra time in the Challenge Cup Final against their Altrincham counterparts at Flixton FC on Sunday afternoon.

Coming up against their closest rivals, the girls started brightly in the clash and applied pressure on their opponents from the off, moving the ball about well.

And it wasn’t long before they were testing the Altrincham goalkeeper, with a number of chances going begging.

After 15 minutes however, their opponents proceeded to take the lead against the run of play when Bolton’s backline were caught out by a long ball, allowing Altrincham to fire home from just inside the box.

Despite falling behind, the Whites carved out numerous opportunities during the remainder of the first half but some dogged defending from Altrincham prevented them from levelling the scores inside the opening 45 minutes.

As the second half got underway, Bolton continued to dominate in possession but saw the game halted 20 minutes in as a Wanderers player took a ball to the throat and saw an ambulance called. She has since however gone on to make a full recovery.

Once the game resumed, the Whites continued their siege on the Altrincham goalmouth and following some good work down the left flank, Ellie Mills picked the ball up on the far side of the box and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top right hand corner of the net, sparking huge scenes of celebration.

Unable to find a winner in normal time however, the clash headed into extra time and by this point, the girls’ extra fitness levels over their counterparts were evident and with just five minutes of the additional 30 played, a lovely through ball saw Maddie Blackburn race through to slot the ball home.

With Altrincham’s heads dropping, Wanderers took advantage and put the result beyond doubt with their third of the game, again Blackburn – who was later named as Player of the Game - on target when applying a cool finish.

Altrincham did attempt to rally and force late drama in the second half of extra time, but Bolton held firm and ran out winners at the final whistle to secure their respective league and cup double in 2016/17 following on from their success in the South Manchester Girls League.

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