We Are The Champions!

Sunday 12th June
Forefield Festival of Football

Squad: Ciarán B; Tom, Stephen, Matty, Josh, Lewis; Adam, Caleb, Joe, Danny; Elliot, Ciarán S, Seamus.

Standing in the rain, sheltering under the gazebo or huddled together in a tent, the boys weathered unseasonal cold and persistent rain to run out winners of the Under 10 tournament at Chesterfield High School.

Seven teams took part in a seven-a-side, 10 minute per match format. The boys were drawn in a group with Ursuline and Marina Sands Lions and so it was disappointing to only draw 1-1 against Ursuline. Despite dominating the match and going ahead direct from a corner by Josh, sloppy defending saw them concede a late equaliser with no time to recover.

After the Lions had beaten Ursuline, a lot was resting on the final game of the group against their long time rivals. However, they stepped up their game to keep their opponents penned back and Danny tapped in the winner after a long range shot from Josh was only pushed back out.

The win left them at the top of the group and facing Burford JFC, runners up in the other group in the semi-final. They started quickly against the visitors from Belle Vale, with Caleb looking to feed Adam and Danny out wide. All three boys were having a good tournament and it was stand-in captain Caleb who scored – another goal direct from the corner.

With a long, wet journey home their opponents weren’t going down without a fight and, despite some dogged defending from Matty, Ciarán was called upon to make two fine saves to keep them ahead and ensure the win.

Scarisbrick had edged out the Lions on penalties and faced the boys in the final. Caleb once again called correctly at the toss and the boys played with the wind at their backs and were worthy winners of the final. Danny had hit the post and seen another go narrowly wide before a long range Caleb shot found the corner of the net. Adam was a constant threat on the left, forcing the defenders into desperate challenges, and went close to increasing the lead, as did Seamus with a neat touch that landed on the roof of the net but the result was never in doubt.

Despite the terrible weather, there’s nothing like a trophy to warm everybody up. The boys were the best in all of their games – although the semi was tight – and deserved the win. Adam picked up the award as team player of the tournament, with mentions for Caleb, Ciarán S and Matty, and it was Caleb who was mobbed by his team-mates as he picked up the trophy!