SPORTY pupils at Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School are celebrating after being named football champions.

The under 13 girls football team lifted the West Yorkshire Cup, which was all the more sweet after last year’s defeat in the final.

They came back strongly to beat Mirfield Free Grammar on penalties.

Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School (HLHS) has looked powerful throughout the competition, with many convincing wins on the road to the final, including a 9-4 win over Whitcliffe Mount in the quarter final and a 6-0 win over Corpus Christi in the semi-final.

However, the final was a different story.

On a freezing evening, Mirfield were quicker to adapt to the conditions scoring inside the first five minutes.

From this point onwards it was HLHS who had most of the possession and chances, which they finally made count towards the end of the first half, scoring with a long range effort that beat the Mirfield keeper in the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

Although the balance was in HLHS’ favour, it stayed at 1-1 for the rest of full time and throughout extra time.

Penalties is always a cruel way for any team to lose, but the Year 7 and 8 girls from Hipperholme and Lightcliffe showed great skill and composure to win the shoot-out 4-1 and become West Yorkshire champions at this age group for the first time.