Kirk Balk Academy will represent Barnsley Football Club in the next round of the EFL U13’s Girls Cup after they beat hosts, Huddersfield Town 2-1 on penalties to win the Area Final.

The school, who narrowly missed out on qualification for the Northern Regional Finals last year, went one better this time around, after defeating teams from Leeds, Oldham, Salford, Rochdale, Bury, Middlesborough, and Huddersfield to win the tournament.

Each team played each other once in a round-robin style format before the top four teams progressed into the knockout stage of the competition.

Kirk Balk finished with an impressive 18 points, which saw them win six out of eight games to finish third in the group.

The school then went on to the semi-finals, where they defeated Middlesborough 3-2 on penalties before they faced tough opposition in Huddersfield Town for the final.

However, they overcame that challenge in spectacular style, taking the Terriers all the way to a penalty shoot-out before winning 2-1.

Special mentions go to Gracie McGregor and Matilda Rodgers who put in standout performances throughout, as Kirk Balk were victorious in the EFL Girls Cup Area Final.

Kirk Balk’s Head of Girls PE Katie Shepard had nothing but praise after seeing her team progress to the next round.

She said: “I am so proud of our girls! Being the first-ever Barnsley School to represent the North East of England is a magnificent achievement!

“It was such an overwhelming experience for both myself and the girls to win this competition, after finishing runners up last year.

“Thank you to Reds In The Community for your continued support and invaluable partnership.”

Kirk Balk will now proceed to play in the Northern Finals of the competition which will be confirmed at a later date.