02/06/2026
East Riding Rangers Girls Blacks U14's played their final game of a superb season last week.
Our final game was another derby game as we looked to do the double for the first time over this opposition as we faced Cottingham Rangers.
After our victory the week before the girls were in great spirits as we travelled to the University and knew that Cottingham would be looking to bounce back so it was expected to be a superb game.
The game started superbly for East Riding, playing on the front foot, moving the ball around playing some good football through the lines. Emily Maslin was playing deeper in midfield this week and was showing off her ability on the ball and bringing some creativity.
It wasn't long before our pressure told and in the 3rd minute Ava Featherstone picked up the ball turned her opponent to open up the game and play a ball forward to Izzy Murray who finished well to give Riding the lead.
East Riding continued to play well and perhaps should have gone further ahead but Cottingham responded brilliantly and started putting us under lots of pressure and Nell Gomerson had to make a few good saves. On 15 minutes Cottingham were awarded a fortuitous free kick on the edge of the box but they took full advantage with a wonderful ball in the box that we couldn't clear and it was suddenly 1-1.
The pressure continued from Cottingham forcing East Riding coaches to change formation and go to a back 4 however we were still lucky to keep the game level.
Just as the game headed to half time, East Riding against the run of play edged back ahead, another pass from Ava Featherstone in to Izzy Murray, Izzy however had a lot to do, driving at the opposition taking on 3 or 4 players weaving in and out before hitting the ball from just inside the box into the roof of the net, a late goal of the season contender. 😲🌟
At half-time the coaches spoke about controlling the game better as individuals and as a team, there was also another slight tweak in formation and tactics.
The second half was a much more even affair and much more controlled from East Riding, we looked after the ball better. The game however was end to end with both teams having chances and both teams coming close with both keepers making some good saves.
However it was East Riding that got the only goal of the second half, with 10 minutes remaining, ball was played forward and came out to Ava Featherstone who tried a through ball, it was blocked and came back to her, she took the ball inside 1 player before having fantastic awareness to play a little side pass to Izzy Murray who smashed the ball home into the bottom corner from just inside the box which completed yet another hattrick for Izzy.
The game finished 3-1 to East Riding, a fabulous advert for girls football and a brilliant hard fought game from both side saw our girls come out on top to take the win and complete the double. 💪🏻💪🏻
Parents player of the match - Grace Grandidge, Grace was terrific yet again in midfield, working extremely hard for the team up against a tough opponent who very rarely got the better of her, showed good quality and composure on the ball too in a superb performance. 👏🏻💪🏻🏆
Coaches player's of the match - Emily Maslin and Ava Featherstone.
Emily started the game a little deeper playing in a central midfield role and was superb, working hard but showing real skill and quality on the ball driving past players to open the game up and create space and opportunities for others. A fantastic performance. 👏🏻💪🏻🏆
Ava had a tremendous game too, playing in a her usual centre forward role. Her play was brilliant knowing when to drop in deep to lay the ball off and help retain possession and when to turn and drive at the opposition. Created 3 goals with a hattrick of assists with a brilliant all round performance. 👏🏻🅰️🅰️🅰️🏆
