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The coveted GulfWeekly Premiership trophy will be leaving the island’s shores for the first time in its history after the Eastern Flames from Saudi Arabia secured the Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain Ladies League title with a game to spare.
With former league winners St Christopher’s Senior School and the Arsenal youth sides going through player transition stages the girls from across the causeway cruised into an unassailable position.
Eastern Flames went into Monday night’s fixture with only one point needed to secure the title. Instead they picked up three with a nail-biting 1-0 victory over seasoned campaigners Joga TFA thanks to a crucial strike from Leah Montenegro.
For the Flames, who have participated in the league from day one of season one and who failed to pick up a single point in the first season, this has been a massive triumph in team development.
Captain Amy Goodwright, pictured right, said: “We’re over the moon. It’s a great success story to see us growing from 14-0 defeats in our first season to becoming a real threat to the more experienced teams.
“The league has given us the competitive spirit we lacked when we first joined and has created such a buzz amongst us giving us all something to train for.
“We hope our rise from underdog status will motivate other females in Saudi to participate in team sports and we are looking forward to a Flametastic year ahead of us!”
The league’s teams will now compete in a knock-out cup competition before enjoying an awards ceremony.
