THEY'RE fast, they're fierce, and they ain't afraid of no fungus.

Oxford's newest girls' football team played their first ever match on Saturday morning.

And Hinksey Park FC under-10s are leading their beleaguered club on the charge back from defeat after their home was afflicted with fungus.

The club, based at Grandpont Recreation Ground in South Oxford, was temporarily homeless in November 2015 when, just a month after it unveiled its £800,000 new pavilion and pitches, it was forced to abandon it all because of a fungal infection.

City council officer Tina Mould identified the culprit as Fusarium, which thrives in damp conditions.

The new facilities had been supposed to be the start of a new era, allowing Hinksey Park to take more players than ever before, including its first ever girls' team.

Instead, the club's 19 teams – nearly 300 players – spent the next six months playing around the city.

In the summer, after six months of anti-fungal treatment by Oxford City Council, the club took its first cautious steps back onto the turbulent turf.

In September they were more confident and even started putting together the first girls team they had been planning 12 months before – the under-12 Lionesses.

They gave the grass one more break over Christmas, to prevent a repeat of the fungal furore, and on Saturday they launched back into action with their new secret weapon.

Unfortunately the under-tens lost their first match 2-0 and the Lionesses were knocked out of the quarter final of the cup in extra time.

Club secretary Mick Conmy said: "It was a fabulous day, we had more than 150 people down at the pitches and it all went really well.

"Introducing another girls team just shows the growth of the club and it is bringing people in the community together.

"Both of the teams lost in the end but they were close games and it was still a great day."

He added: "Our first girls' team, the Lionesses, have gone from strength to strength, they were on a massive winning streak before Saturday, and evidently the star dust they've got has been sprinkled onto the club and they've spawned another girls team, the under-tens."

The Lionesses are now second in their league behind Kidlington.

Saturday was also a record day for Hinksey Park, as they hosted six home matches for the first time – and on just four pitches.

The only problem now, Mr Conmy said, is that their fearsome new female force doesn't yet have a name.

"We've used up most of Noah's Ark on the other teams," he joked, "panthers, lions and tigers – we would love it if Oxford Mail readers could suggest another feline animal."

The secretary also encouraged more girls to come along and play for the under-tens.

Submit your team name ideas and find out more about the team at hinkseyparkfc.org