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. United became the first girls Scottish team to win the prestigious tournament.
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 atmosphere and the opportunity to play in such a great tournament.
“It wasn’t until after the third game that we realised we might be able to do something and then we won the first game the following day 4-0 and knew we just needed to avoid heavy defeat in the final game.
“I’m massively proud of everyone at the club. Every single one of them was brilliant on the park and conducted themselves well off the park, too.”
Stephen reserved special praise, though, for Lucy Hamilton. Despite suffering a recent leg break, she travelled with the team and was ‘integral’ to their success.
He said: “Lucy suffered a bad leg break but she came over knowing she wasn’t going to play and she was integral to us winning.
“She played a huge role and kept everyone going. Lucy was keeping me right on the sidelines, I think she was probably the real gaffer during the weekend to be honest.”
He also paid tribute to all the parents as well as club staff who either joined the team on the trip or helped with the fundraising to ensure the experience was possible.
He commented: “Lots of the parents were there and they provided loads of support to the girls.
“It’s a massive undertaking financially to go to these sort of events.
“Sonia, our team secretary, put in loads of work and the parents and families did a huge amount of fundraising to allow the girls to take part.
“The girls went out there and got the results on the park but it wouldn’t have been possible without all the hard work from dozens of people off the park.”
Don't miss the latest news from the West Lothian Courier. Sign up to our free newsletter here
