FOOTBALL: THE borough’s Little Thurrock Dynamos Wildcatz came out second best against Southendian on Sunday in the final of the Essex Under 16s Girls Cup final. They lost the eight goal thriller 5-3 at Leslie Field.

Despite being pegged back three times during the first 62 minutes, two goals inside the final 10 ensured Southendian won the Cup.

Southendian finally eased clear of their opponents late on when Leisha Wyatt-Smith and Ellie Turner-Powell completed their individual braces, adding to Rebecca Dalgarno’s first minute opener.

Rebecca Dalgarno gave them the lead just 12 seconds into the contest. The winger looped a shot over Emma Bailey in the Little Thurrock goal. LTD equalised in the 21st minute when Captain Katherine Gee found Hubbard who tapped in.

The leveller stirred Southendian and Wyatt-Smith converted Stakrindo’s neat pass.

LTD took just five minutes to restore parity for a second time as Gee floated a free kick over Charley Beaumont. Southendian nudged in front for a third time on the hour mark when Turner-Powell got the faintest of touches to Wyatt-Smith’s in-swinging corner. The leveller arrived even more swiftly, with Maria Bridge blasting Gee’s corner into the net within two minutes to make it 3-3.

The decisive last few minutes were frantic. Wyatt-Smith’s lob went in and three minutes later, Southendian made the game safe as Murphy found Turner-Powell who slotted home to make the score 5-3. Little Thurrock Dynamos (Wildcatz): Emma Bailey, Maddie Hubbard, Morgan Lundberg, Maria Bridges, Paige Horwood, Harriet Wozniak, Chloe Sams, Bebe Ray, Katherine Gee, Casey Bush, Olivia Carey. Substitutes (repeated): Ella Davis-Yuille, Maisie Chilcott, Remmi Wood, Sophie Darkings.

See Thursday's THURROCK GAZETTE