Palace were last week represented at Wembley by the Darrick Wood Girls U13 team.

The girls lined up on behalf of the Eagles for the Football League Girls Cup Final after beating off competition from over 1000 schools.

To get there, the girls first had to progress past the preliminary round, which was held at Goals in Beckenham. The event played host to 41 schools from Bromley, Sutton and Croydon competing in the local group stages. The winners of each group stage then went on to a play-off final.

The Darrick Wood team managed to win through the local competition without dropping a point in the play-offs, therefore progressing to the area finals.

The next stage was held at Millwall FC. The tournament hosted eight teams representing clubs from London-based Championship and Football League Clubs.

The girls were again in fantastic form winning the tournament without even conceding a goal against some very strong opposition.

The regional finals were to follow and the girls were given a great home advantage with Crystal Palace FC hosting the competition. The other finalists were from Coventry City, MK Dons and Bristol Rovers, with the winners going on to the grand final at Wembley.

The Darrick Wood girls again impressed, winning the group without conceding and faced a tough final against MK Dons.

The previous game between the two team ended in a narrow 1-0 victory for the Darrick Wood team so made for a tense game. The girls ran out convincing winners with a 3-0 scoreline, paving the way for an appearance at Wembley prior to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final to face Tranmere Rovers.

For the weekend of the final, the Football League made sure the girls were treated like professionals, giving them a night stay at the Quality Hotel and a stadium tour on the Saturday prior to the game.

The day of the match was fantastic and the two teams were led on to the pitch by their teachers and community officers. The final was a nervous affair and both teams had chances to take the lead, however the deadlock remained unbroken and the final finished in a 0-0 draw.

This resulted in a shared trophy for the two teams, crowning both schools National Champions - a tremendous achievement for both considering over 1000 schools entered the competition.

The Team were guided to the finals by their teacher and coach, Stefan Sanson, and the help of Crystal Palace FC community officer Rob Perrett.

Darrick Wood School Team:
Catherine Long (capt)
Emily Farrell (gk)
Molly Cassidy
Michelle Newing
Natasha Spena
Emily Williamson
Nicole Killick