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THE prestigious GulfWeekly Ladies League trophy will be presented to Arsenal Ladies for the first time next Wednesday night.
Although the Arsenal youngsters have been successful before, this season it was the turn of the Senior Ladies to shine, going through the season unbeaten, scoring 23 goals and conceding only five.
The title was wrapped up in a game against the Arsenal U21s which was a lot closer than the 6-0 score-line suggests. Goals from hat-trick heroine Alana McConalogue and Lucy Hogg, Reema Al Qassab and Dalal Abdulkarim ensured that, despite fine performances from Ayaa Ashraf, Lauren Moir, Jen Loveland Rose and debutant Lulwa Al Khatoub in goal, the season’s hard work resulted in deserved success.
Captain Rama Salem said: “We are so delighted to have won the league for the first time. We have come second so many times before, and been successful in other tournaments and competitions, but this was the one that we really wanted!
“It has taken seven seasons, but we have won it now. We are the champions and aim to defend the title next season.’’
Coach Liam Trigg was thrilled that his team was finally on top. “They fully deserve this success,” he said. “In previous seasons we have fielded two sides, so this is the first time in a while that we have had a full strength squad of players fighting for places every week.
“Their results show how hard they have worked and played together as a team. We were lucky to sign three quality players this season in Alana, Alex Ziegler and Sam Rule, but the core of our team has been with us for several seasons and we are delighted for Rama, Reema, Dalal, Alaa Alawi, Natalie Harake, Claudia Burgos, Janet Kellaher, Lorna Milligan, Nada Al Saeed, Wed Al Jowder , Sara van Urk and Lucy Hogg who have always played well and now have their hands on the trophy they so desired.”
Flames play Joga in their final match tonight, alongside the fixture between Seef and Venus, with Flames needing all three points to claim second place.
