Manchester United celebrated their first ever appearance in the girls’ tournament at Super Cup NI with a tense win over host nation Northern Ireland in front of a large crowd at Dixon Park.
Northern Ireland were victorious last summer in the Premier section defeating Surf Select in the decider.
Both sides had impressively topped their group, with United only dropping points to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa, while Northern Ireland had won all three games and looked strong favourites ahead of this clash on the new 3G surface at Dixon Park.
In the end it was Manchester United who edged past the hosts with goals from Ellen Marsh and Pixie Bradley enough to secure the title. Northern Ireland’s goalscorer was Jessica McGuinness who also rattled the bar from 35 yards with an audacious free kick. McGuinness who was in fine form all week picked up the player of the tournament award and the top goalscorer award but couldn’t grab that elusive second goal.
In the other girls’ finals, Galway United took home the bowl with a nervy 2-1 win against USSSA Select and Surf Select were 2-0 winners against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Vase decider at Monkstown
In the Globe final, Aston Villa were 4-2 winners as they defeated Athlone Town at Mossley.
In the girls’ Junior final, Surf Select took home the trophy after a fine win over Larne FC at Dixon Park.
The Americans struggled to break down an organised Larne defence but three late goals proved pivotal as Surf returned across the Atlantic with the Junior title once again.
In the Globe final, last minute replacements South Belfast Youth League were 1-0 winners against FC America and in the Vase final, Linfield were 6-1 winners in a Belfast derby against Crusaders. Zara Lappin was the star of the show as she inspired the Windsor Park youngsters to victory and picked up the player of the match trophy.