KIKK (temporarily minus their captain) line up vs Leverstock Green

Today’s visitors, Leverstock Green had travelled in from Hertfordshire and KIKK must have had them regretting the effort when, in an attacking 4-3-3 formation, they proceeded to bombard the Leverstock goal from the off.  Within twenty minutes, KIKK were 2-0 up with goals from Adriana and Sak, following up a well-placed Sophie Muller header. When, with half an hour gone, Sak then sped through and fired a perfect finish into the bottom corner, it looked the proverbial fun day in the sun for KIKK.  Sak was disappointed though not to get her hat-trick when her penalty was well saved and an unfortunate knock meant half-time saw Marcela on in her place.

The defence, led by captain Fran and with Goz impressing in a new role, had rarely been troubled but shortly into the second half, a fine swivel and fierce shot saw Leverstock Green back to 3-1. KIKK began to pile forward again with Lara, who had had an excellent first half as the sole central midfielder but was understandably tired in the heat, replaced by Melissa Nathan-Pepple and with another debutant, Laura Bailey on for Louise, the team were now 3-4-3 and continuing to stretch the opposition.

There was just over an hour on the clock when Sophie Le Marchand accelerated on to a delightful through ball from Emma and tucked home and a few minutes later the same player fizzed a sparkler in the top corner after a good turn inside the box. At 5-1, the match looked (well) done but Leverstock’s captain, who had had a fine game, produced a great long-range effort to bring it back to 5-2.  KIKK responded instantly with a calm finish from Sophie M, who had led the line well and although Adriana was forced to go off for the last fifteen minutes with a knee injury, the ten of KIKK looked comfortable, despite the ferocious heat, thanks to the energetic subs’ performances.

Marcela made it seven with ten minutes left and a storming run all the way from defence from Jesse nearly brought her first KIKK goal.  The final whistle heralded a 7-2 win and the team jogged across to clap their supporters in the stand (a record crowd of at least 30 footballing connoisseurs – aka friends and family – deserved recognition!). A second round FA Cup tie against local rivals Hampstead awaits and the new KIKK era, in their smart new home, looks promising…

Can you spot KIKK in the latest FA & Mars Just Play ‘Be’ video?

Tower Hamlets Senior Football Development Officer Derek Bennett has announced that KIKK United FC will play their home games at Mile End Stadium.

The council’s commitment to, and commendable support for, women’s football is apparent in this initiative and it is accompanied by a refurbishment of the facilities at Mile End. KIKK’s presence, the council believe, will serve to further stimulate the development of the women’s game in the borough, alongside the existence of both Tower Hamlets WFC and East London LFC.

KIKK go into the new season with a record of two championships and a runners-up slot in the last three years, so with this success and the team’s attractive, incisive quick passing style, the hope is that female players in the borough will have another arena in which to play football at a good level, as well as providing the community with the opportunity to watch high level women’s football.

The summer of 2011 has already seen a Tower Hamlets U-14 girls side win the UK final of the prestigious MTG United for Peace tournament and they will now travel to Oslo in Norway to compete for the Cup itself, so prospects for the female game in the borough are bright.

KIKK coach, Chris Brayford, expressed his and the team’s gratitude for the support they had received, in particular from Derek and Tower Hamlets’ Head of Sport & Physical Activity, Lisa Pottinger as well as Greenwich Leisure Ltd, who manage the facility on behalf of the Council, as their assistance had been essential in making the idea reality. “I hope of course that we’ll go some way to repay them by bringing back a trophy this season!”

KIKK start their new season in the London & South East Regional League (LSERL) on Sunday 11 September with an away fixture and on Sunday 2 October at 2pm, the team will play the Hertfordshire side, Leverstock Green at Mile End Stadium in the 1st qualifying round of the FA Women’s Cup.

The next step up for KIKK from the LSERL would be the South East Combination. With this support, both from Tower Hamlets council and a local business, the team’s kit sponsor Fika (the Swedish bar and restaurant on Brick Lane), the team hope to continue to rapidly ascend the women’s football pyramid.

Known as Kicka In Kulen I Krysset (or simply KIKK), we are originally a Scandinavian team who now have players from all around the world including America, Brazil, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Britain.

As 2010/11 London & South East Regional League Division 1 runners up, this season we’ll be aiming to claim the top spot. Plus we are excited to announce that we’ll be playing all of our home games at our new ground, Mile End Stadium, where we’ll have our very own club house and a stand to house our small but ever-growing fan club!

So, if you’re interested in joining a sociable and ambitious club then do get in touch via kikkunited@gmail.com.

New players are always welcome: we train every Thursday at 8 on the astroturf at Kennington Park.

Oh and if you like what you see here, help us spread the word by downloading this KIKK Poster and passing it onto potential players.

Training
Our first training session will take place on Thursday 21 July at Kennington Park Astroturf from 8pm – 10pm and will continue every Thursday thereafter.

The address is Kennington Park, Kennington Park Road, Oval, London, SE11 4BE. The nearest tube station is Oval (Northern Line), just five minutes away! If you’re not sure how to get there, here’s a map to guide you.

Fitness
Starting in July, there will be some extra fitness sessions for the first few weeks of pre-season training. These sessions, led by our in-house personal trainer Susanne, will take place by the running tracks in Regent’s Park (just north of the Hub by the Outer Circle).

Regents Park is very big and it’s easy to get lost so here’s a map to help you find us.

If you are interested in joining KIKK United, please get in touch with Jesse at kikkunited@gmail.com and come along to one of our training sessions!

KIKK with the 'Just Play' film Director at Mile End Stadium

KIKK were filmed in action at Mile End Stadium last week to appear in a promotional film for the FA’s ‘Just Play’ initiative. The short viral, which features England International Rio Ferdinand, will be used to promote the take-up and continuation of football by men and women past the schooling age.

It will soon be available on the FA website, Youtube and Facebook and rumour has it that it may also be played at Wembley stadium! So watch this space.

And thanks to all those that took part, it was lots of fun!

We’ll see you next week as usual. For more info check out the Training tab on our blog.

…I took my place behind one goal for KIKK United’s London & SE Regional League Division One (London) fixture with Hemel Hempstead. KIKK, ‘my team’, won a tough contest 3-1 which I’ll remember for an upsetting incident in the second half.

‘Sak’, No.20, was as impressive as ever, showing her silky skills and superb athleticism. A few minutes after scoring KIKK’s third goal she made a typically brave and forceful run down the right flank, stride for stride with a Hemel defender. Her left leg seemed to buckle, there was a cry of pain and she lay motionless on the ground. People rushed to her aid and play was held up for about ten minutes.

I was assuming the worst but became encouraged by the fact that an ambulance hadn’t been summoned. ‘Sak’ was finally carried away, by relatives I think, and I hope this very talented player will be back in action soon. A special mention should also be made of KIKK’s No.2, ‘Fran’, who had an absolutely outstanding match at the back. Believe me, this is a team worth watching.

The game’s goal scorers (in order) were new signing Kierra Colker, Tina with an absolute screamer from distance and Sak who as ever showed her speed and determination to force a mistake from the keeper allowing her to tap in at close range.

Sak – we hope your ankle is healing well and Fran congratulations on a great performance. Bring on Luton!

A stormy day and a British Heart Foundation 5k, were the backdrop for KIKK’s fourth round ‘John Greenacre Memorial Trophy’ cup tie against league title contenders Luton Town Reserves. With next week’s all-important league game and potential title decider (also against Luton) high in KIKK’s mind, today’s game was to be a dress rehearsal.

KIKK, having had a week off, were looking a little rusty and so the first 15 minutes were dominated by Luton. But after some strong words from the sidelines and a couple of words of encouragement (exchanged on the pitch), KIKK began to find their feet and sure enough started to create chances.

Marit, ‘Player of the Match’ against Knaphill, opened the scoring after 25 minutes (her 1st goal for KIKK!) with a lovely side-footed finish into the bottom right corner. The ball falling to her in the box after some strong attacking play down the left wing from Susanne.

Luton replied just two minutes later with a shot from distance finding its way into the bottom left hand corner of KIKK’s net. A soft goal that could have been prevented had KIKK’s midfield been pressing more effectively.

With both teams level-pegging, the game became more competitive, both teams were eager to take the lead before the break, but the half ended 1 – 1.

Throughout the second-half KIKK were the stronger side, showing more purpose and control than in the first. They should have taken the lead early in the half when central midfielder, Anna, jumped onto a loose ball to find space in the box to shoot. Her shot was parried away by the keeper, but only as far as Alma who looked to have headed the ball over the line, but miraculously it went out for a corner.

After 75 minutes Luton hit back. This time with an unstoppable long-range strike from their excellent number 9, KIKK were only too happy to see the shot hit the top of the cross bar and go out for a goal kick.

At the other end, Anna got herself into a great position to meet Susanne’s left-wing cross with a thumping header. It looked to be a goal, but was met with a brilliant reaction save by Luton’s keeper. Despite dominating the half KIKK, were unable to get on the scoresheet, largely thanks to Luton’s impressive keeper and extra timed loomed.

Extra-time…

With two 15 minute halves of extra-time to play it was anybodies game. Six minutes into the first 15, Susanne was put through on goal but shot over the bar.

Despite all KIKK’s chances, Luton took the lead in extra-time from a free-kick. The kick was floated towards the box, flicked into the box with a backward header and landed perfectly for Luton to tap the ball past the advancing KIKK keeper.

Early into the second period of extra-time they added a second. KIKK were always vulnerable as they pushed all their players forward and Luton angled a lovely pass over the last defender to put their lightening quick number 9 clean through. She didn’t miss and put Luton 3 – 1 up.

After having created so many chances, KIKK will be disappointed to have lost this game. The scoreline certainly didn’t reflect the run of play, which was, for the most part, fairly even.

KIKK look forward to facing Luton next week in the league.

KIKK were without a game this week, so rather than take a well deserved rest, the team were instead slaloming their way through a busy Brick Lane for Fika’s own version of the Swedish Vasaloppet.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, let me explain. Vasaloppet is the world’s longest cross-country ski race (a massive 90km!), held on the first Sunday of March in northwestern Dalarna, Sweden. Stretching from the village of Sälen to the town of Mora, the race commemorates the grueling journey made by Gustav Vasa in 1520 as he attempted to liberate Sweden from the Danes.

Fueled by blueberries and brownies, we didn’t quite cover 90km and there was little snow to speak of, but we certainly had lots of fun and are already looking forward to taking part again next year…only this time we’ll try and win! A big thanks to Fika – our brilliant kit sponsor – for organising the race and inviting us to take part.