Words Ben Edwards Pictures Maisy Green

Rather incredibly, Altrincham Women's Elite u18 side were scheduled to play two cup games on Sunday, November 8, coming out victorious in both!

Kicking off at 10.30am, the young Robins headed to Granada Park to take on West End u17 in the first round of the Manchester FA Girls Cup u18. First half goals from Roxie Chalmers and Kate Joseph had Alty 2-0 up, before the hosts pulled a goal back.

Shot stopper Lily Reynolds then produced a brilliant second half penalty save to ensure the Robins progressed with a 2-1 win.

It was then a 45 minute journey over to Crewe to take on Holmes Chapel Hurricanes in the second round of the Cheshire FA u18 Girls Youth cup. It was a heavily reduced side as multiple players from the first game were unavailable, whilst trio Sophie Whittam, Mae Winchcombe and Molly Cant, who featured against West End in the morning, were required for the first teams encounter against Salford.

Nevertheless, Timur Zakirov's side played some brilliant football, with captain Mia Bradley, Francesca Hamilton and Florence Munt on the scoresheet in a 3-0 victory.

A proud Timur Zakirov, Elite u18 Head Coach, said:

"What a gargantuan effort from everyone included today. Every single player over the two games has been absolutely amazing and showed immense quality and class over two very difficult games.

"In the first game we showed incredible resilience to hold on to a 2-1 victory. It wasn't the best performance, but sometimes wins like this are more important. It's easy to get frustrated when things dont go our way and lose focus, but we held on! Shout out to Lily for saving a vital penalty!

"The second game... that was honestly the best game I have had the pleasure of coaching. Genuinely amazing performances with everyone going above and beyond. We played very beautiful and mature football."