It was a strange morning, rather surreal as I donned the Royal School colours, once again ready to lead my charges into another tournament. Football was today’s game, the rugby would be for another few weeks yet. What a squad I had at my disposal:
Hannah Redmond (C)
Indi Gonzalo
Oliver Grimley
Freddy Thompson
Georgie Thompson
Myles Edgar
Harvey Rainey
Will Anderson
William Ewing
James Calvin
Rose Redmond
Rory Elliott
Tom Anderson
We may not have the oldest or most experienced squad, but I’d be shocked if there was a bigger squad there! We arrived in good time and were able to enjoy the wonderful 4G pitches on offer at Loughgall Football Club. It was like playing on carpet, aside from a few errand golf balls the conditions were perfect. Crunching tackles, slick passing and some tidy finishing were clear for all to see in the practise match. Take it easy! No injuries please! Buoyed by the success of the girls the previous week we took on the hosts, Cope P.S. in our opener. Georgie made a tackle from a one on one situation to prevent a sure goal. It was my highlight of the day, she timed it just right and never one to rest on her laurels cleared the ball quickly to Will who tore down the right wing beating several players with his tricky feet. I can attest to his trickery myself but I did not anticipate the cross he played to the far post to the onrushing Indi. The Spaniard made no mistake, an excellent counter act. All my talk about this great Liverpool team was paying off. Funny what a goal does to a team, suddenly our midfield 3 joined our captain up front as everyone pushed onwards. Relentless pressure from a determined William was the catalyst for an own goal to be scored. 2 nil it ended despite some late scares. Our posts were well brushed by full time but you’d have had a hard job wiping the smiles from the children’s faces after that result.
Richmount were to follow in a top of the table clash. They had won well in their first game and their second was to be no different. Encouragingly though the children remained positive and together throughout. Having been in similar situations as a player myself from time to time it spoke volumes to see the leaders on the sides continue to hunt for the ball and look for possession when it would have been very easy to hide.
We came with strong support, refreshments on the go, cheerleaders, motivational speakers, even a scout and statistician! The latter had done the maths, a draw in our final game would ensure a safe passage through to the Cup stages. Assembling my troops they knew what we needed, I fielded my most resolute midfield and defence to tighten up our rear guard. Up front we went with the young and hungry Tom who I knew would work his socks off. That he did! He kicked and fought and frankly with a hat trick of chances their goal keeper can count themselves lucky to have stopped any of them. I think by the end they’d employed every conceivable body part to protect their goal! Despite heavy pressure the winner wouldn’t be found but the point was all that was needed.
A semi final awaited RSA Prep…. but first… ice cream! Lunch devoured in record time , it was pleasing to see the range of healthy snacks the children had on hand. Are we in the cup? Who did we get? Our we on this pitch of that one? Can I play? The children sure were keen and the draw was made. Bleary uh oh, this side is strong we were warned. Was it 8 or 9 nil they won their last match by, the referee asked his assistant? This team didn’t succumb to a scoreline as extreme as that but it was a bump in the road. If you’re wondering how the children picked themselves up afterwards the team pictures were taken directly after this game. Smiles all round from the resilient bunch!
We finished the day 4th from 8 teams having reached the cup semi finals. The children behaved well, played well and were well supported throughout. What more could you ask for? Thank you for the support and efforts throughout the day from child and parent alike. It was a pleasure and with so many younger children fielded the future looks bright!
Congratulations goes to Will Anderson who for the third year running scooped the prize for Player of the Tournament on our team. Well done Will, something to treasure for years to come, but also something to hold as you watch The Reds march on to Madrid! 🏆
