Kent Merit Under-16 Girls Cup Final: Dartford 1 Aylesford 1 (Dartford won 5-4 on penalties)

Faultless Dartford claimed the Kent Merit Under-16 Girls Cup after scoring five perfect penalties in their shoot-out against Aylesford.

There was little to choose between the two sides after 1-1 draw in normal time but it was the Darts who came out on top in the end.

Manager George Kingdon said: “It was a really good representation of girls’ football at under-16 level.

“Both teams are a credit to their clubs and played some nice football. It was a physical game and both sets of players managed it well, as did the four officials, I was impressed with them.

“There was very little between the two sides. They had the early goal and then we got a bit of brilliance from our winger, Isabelle, who is a phenomenal player and that showed her quality.

“It’s looking like Aylesford will win the league, I’ve got a lot of respect for them and their managers and we’ll finish second. We’ve got a lot of development still.

“We’ve had a few penalty shoot-outs over the years and we’re always doing them at the end of training sessions. We knew our five straight away, and I was really impressed with the girls who took them.”

Aylesford led after five minutes when Sophie O’Neill held off the last defender as she raced clear on goal before confidently slotting low beyond keeper Lottie Kelk.

O’Neill nearly repeated the trick six minutes later but Keik was out smartly this time to save with her feet.

Amelia Roberts then looked to go around Keik as she raced out of her penalty area but her touch took her too wide and the chance was gone.

Dartford got themselves back on level terms on 20 minutes when the lively Isabelle Edgar found the back of the net with a shot from the angle of the penalty area.

The second half was a more cagey affair with