Pooch helps hotshot Grace

A Dudley schoolgirl is proving the best striker on her all boys football team after honing her shooting skills against her pet dog.

She may be the only girl on the soccer side but seven-year-old Grace Field has proved a real super scorer with 48 goals to her name this season in the Stourbridge and District Youth League.

The youngster, who plays for Gornal Athletic, puts it all down to practicing against her pet dog, Dotti, in her garden at her home in Richborough Drive, Gornal.

The two-year-old border collie springer spaniel cross has become a dab hand at stopping shots in the goal from Grace and her 11-year-old brother Jake.

Their mother, Lisa, aged 41, said: “Both children put her in goal and then try to score against her. It is an ideal opportunity for Grace to practice dribbling the ball and putting it in the back of the net.

“Dottie loves to play ball in the garden. Not many goals get past her. Although she does run off with the ball sometimes.”

Football-mad Grace, who supports Wolves, said:”“I like scoring goals. I like playing with Dotti as I can practice my shots. Sometimes she saves them and sometimes she doesn’t.”

She began honing her footy skills when she was just four-years-old and attended the Bustleholme FC mini-soccer camp in West Bromwich.

After catching the eye of the coaches she was picked for the under-7s Bustleholme Allstars team and was the only girl playing in the Walsall league.

But when new legislation was introduced by the FA which meant children under seven could not play competitive football she had to leave.

When she was old enough she went for trials with Gornal Athletic and has been playing in the under-7s side for 12 months.

Her manager Miles Sadler, said:”“When we first laid eyes on Grace we knew she was a special player. As the season has progressed she has got a bit of a knack for scoring a lot of goals. She is going to have a great future ahead of her in football.”

It has been a double celebration for the Field family as Grace’s brother Jake, who plays for Bustleholme Baggies, is also celebrating a successful season. His side won the coveted South Staffordshire Junior Charity Cup for the second time in a row.

Mrs Field said: “Their life is all about football. They are absolutely football mad.”