Blackburn United under-18s women’s team has what it takes to reign in Spain

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A West Lothian football team proved they have what it takes to reign in Spain after winning a prestigious international tournament.Blackburn United under-18s women’s team came out on top at the recent Football Cup Barcelona, winning the 2006 category and sweeping aside teams from Ireland, Sweden, Norway and Spain along the way.To make the success all the more remarkable, the side travelled to Spain without a goalkeeper with star striker Kodie Bell scoring one then saving two penalties in the final.The girls, most of whom were experiencing their first international tournament, started things off with a commanding 4-1 win over Ireland’s Evergreen FC City before losing 2-0 to Evergreen FC United in the next match.That would be their only loss as they defeated Taby FK of Sweden 1-0 and Spain’s Atletico Polinya 4-0 before a goalless draw with Norwegian side Remyra IL.Those results ensured a final showdown with Evergreen FC United and the West Lothian girls were able to gain revenge for their group stage loss as a nervy affair finished 0-0 before Kodie’s shoot-out heroics in goal saw them to victory and allowed skipper Abi Cowan to lift the trophy.There was double celebration for Kodie, too, as she was named Player of the Tournament.Speaking to the Courier, proud coach Stephen McGuigan admitted winning the tournament was the furthest thing from his mind prior to the trip.He said: “We finished second in the group which put us into the final.

It was definitely a wee bit of revenge because they’d beaten us in the group game.“There was a fair bit of emotion and tears at the end.

We really went out there with the idea that we’d enjoy it and anything we did would be a bonus.“We really had no expectations other than enjoying the