UNITED LADIES TAKE THEIR FIRST TROPHY

14 / 12 / 2015

The Black Cats see their first trophy as they take Runners' Up in Estonia

Over the weekend, two Riga United FC Ladies teams headed up to Tartu, Estonia to play in a 10-team, 6-a-side tournament.  This competition was full of top teams from Estonia, so this was not going to be an easy tournament for either RUFC or RUFC -2. Both teams battled hard and played very well, despite the two teams being unfortunate enough to meet in the 1/4 finals, it was the first team of Riga United FC that went all the way to the final eventually losing 1-2 to FK Levadia.

The tournament got off to a flying start for both teams as RUFC won 1-0 vs Tallinna Kalev, Leonie Kohlsaat with the goal and RUFC - 2 won their first game Vs Kussalu Kalev,  Raquel Xoubanova & Helena Briede with the goals.

While the next few games for RUFC saw them reach the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over JK Tammeka, with a  hattrick from Liene Vāciete. And a 1-1 result against TJK Legion with the solitary goal coming from Liene Vāciete again.  While RUFC -2 were not having as much luck but it was not through lack of trying.  They played hard to stay in the games and still made it to the 1/4 finals, despite results 0-2 vs FK Olaine. 0-4 vs SK10 Premium and 0-5 (to the eventual champions) FK Levadia.

So that meant both Riga United teams would have to slug it out in the 1/4 finals.  And it was the first team of RUFC who won the game 2-0 with a goal from Anna Bang and an own goal.  In the semis, RUFC yet again had to play a tightly fought contest vs TJK Legion, this time RUFC came out on top with a 1-0 win and the goal coming from Pia Foosnaes.

This set up a final showdown between FK Levadia and RUFC.  Despite going in front through a second Anna Bang goal for the tournament, it was Levadia coming out the tournament winners with a 2-1 victory, with RUFC taking Levadia all the way as Levadia only scored the winning goal in the very last minute of the game.

Though the Black cats were disappointed at not winning, it appears there were still all smiles as not just the first team but the reserve team too, showed up and gave a great account of themselves. This is the first trophy for the RUFC Ladies and another great moment in Riga United FC Ladies' short yet fantastic history. After the tournament, we caught up with top goalscorer for Riga United, Liene Vāciete and the Head Coach Justin Walley for their reactions.  This is what they had to say:

Liene Vāciete: "It's good to have these [tournaments] because it builds the team and it gives us an opportunity to gain some confidence. That's how we get to know each other and learn how to play together. If we do these more often I believe it will pay back later in the season when we play some championship games".

Justin Walley: ""I was really pleased with everyone that travelled to Estonia. We left at 4.30 in the morning and I know many players got barely any sleep before playing all day in the tournament. Brilliant stuff from the second team winning their first game. The first team thoroughly deserved to reach the final after winning four and drawing one. We could so easily have won the final against a very talented team. Liene almost put us into a 2-1 lead with a couple of minutes remaining but then they scored a brilliant winner with 70 seconds left on the clock. We were down to six players by the end and Levadia had 12 and that tiredness and lack of personnel to change things up was probably the small detail that decided the final. It is a great feeling to win our first ever trophy but it was also a fun experience with the 19 who travelled having dinner in a very Christmassy feeling Tartu after the tournament. I want to thank John and the 17 girls who travelled for a very memorable day".