For the first time in 462 years, Oundle fielded a girls football team in an inaugural fixture against Stamford High School for Girls on Saturday 3 February. The team were thrilled when the final whistle blew, 4-1 to Oundle.
The team were introduced to the game in practice sessions last summer. At the start of the football season this year, the girls reconvened in early January to hone their skills and improve their match readiness for their first fixture.
Midfielder Alex Barker (N) opened the scoring after three minutes, prodding home from just inside the box after relentless early pressure. Stamford started to come back into the game and were rewarded with a penalty kick after 15 minutes. Clara Goodman (W) did her very best to keep it out. Oundle began to turn the screw as they headed towards half time and deservedly regained the lead when striker Faridah Sarumi (W) raced clear of the home defence to slot home Oundle’s second goal.
The second half was one-way traffic and Oundle continued to dominate proceedings. The right-hand flank of Rosie Marks (D) and Thalia Garnett (D) proved to be Oundle’s best form of attack. The pressure finally told when Faridah Sarumi grabbed Oundle’s third and fourth goals to secure an historic debut hat trick, and a win for Oundle.
The next fixture is at home against Rugby School on Saturday 10 February, the first ever girls football fixture to be held at Oundle.
