7 Boys Football Tournament

On Thursday 9 February the year 7 boys travelled to Nailsea School for their first taste of secondary school tournament football. The temperatures may have been low but the boys’ spirits were certainly not, as the excitement was palpable. Unfortunately the original plans for an 11-a-side event had to be scrapped due to the weather conditions so instead a 7-a-side alternative was arranged with Nailsea kindly offering to host.

The boys were drawn in a first round group with Backwell and Churchill. With 2 other pools, they were competing to be drawn against other teams who finished in the same position as them in the other pools for the second and final round of the competition. The boys had 4 matches and around 80 minutes of football to play.

It was a good job that there was so much football being played and hardly any standing around because temperatures were punishingly cold. The boys had so many layers on that I was surprised they could even move. Nonetheless they headed out for a warm up, which was more of a survival necessity rather than a pre-exercise recommendation!

Their first group match was against Backwell School. The SK boys began the game well and were competing in the different areas of the pitch. Backwell had the majority of possession and worked a couple of half chances which were well snuffed out by captain Nana Gyimah-Sarpong and fellow defensive partner Shadrach Bunkete. SK might have been keeping their opponents out but weren’t able to sustain and possession of their own. They were finding the 7-a-side format difficult to get to grips with; that said the scores were level at half time. The second half saw Backwell grow in strength significantly and they dominated almost all of the period. Keeper Toby Rice set his standards for the afternoon really high with some fantastic saves but neither his nor the efforts of his defenders could stop Backwell as they surged to a 3 goal victory.

The boys’ second game was against Churchill who they had just watched getting beaten by Backwell. The early part of this game was a tense affair as both sides knew that a win would mean qualification for the second tier of competition. Early signs were good as Adebo, Quinn and Yilmaz had a lot of ball in midfield but were just unable to pick the right pass. SK were on top for large periods of the first half and almost went ahead when the Churchill keeper almost gifted Leo West who fought hard to get a toe on the ball only to watch it agonisingly strike the base of the post. That was a real turning point in the game as Churchill took the lead soon after. SK equalised after Ben Bohin showed what we was capable of with the ball at his feet finishing neatly in the bottom corner. Churchill came back strongly in the second half and were able to score 2 more goals to take the second spot in the group.

The final stage of the competition saw SK drawn against Worle and Priory, the latter of which they played first. We decided to change things around a little for the last couple of matches and actually played 11-a-side rather than 7 meaning that space was at a premium! The lack of space was a price worth paying as it meant that all of the boys could be active at the same time! Stratton, Rugman and Lumoso were busy in the middle of the field and SK actually started to play some really nice football. One move in particular sticks out in my mind started by Yilmaz. Quinn touched the ball first time into the path of Adebo who whipped the ball across the front of goal only miss West and Bohin by a matter of inches. For all of their improvement they were unable to get on the scoresheet and unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for the opposition who managed 3 goals over the course of the game.

The final match was against Worle and started with SK well and truly on the front foot. Stratton and Rugman kept the Worle boys penned into their own penalty area in the early part of the first half but the boys just couldn’t find that all important goal. A few unfortunate bounces of the ball in defence let Worle score 3 in the space of about 30 seconds – it was almost unbelievable to have been dominant and then concede in that fashion! The resurgence was led by captain Nana GS who was enjoying a spell up front having defended for all of the previous games. Eventually he latched onto a through ball from Yilmaz and finished impeccably as he bent the ball around the keeper and into the side of the net from some range! In the final stages of their last match it seemed as though Leo West was everywhere. He popped up with some last ditch defensive work and managed to capitalised on a loose ball in the penalty area scoring St Kath’s second goal of the match. Worle scored 2 more goals before they were finished and SK were left feeling a little deflated at the end of their afternoon.

Man of the tournament could have gone to a couple of boys; Isaac Adebo showed his athleticism and footballing talent in every minute of every match he played. He worked tirelessly for the team in defensive and attacking roles and was the catalyst for a lot of the good football that came from the reds. His friend and captain Nana Gyimah-Sarpong was not only a rock in defence but also an inspirational leader with a fantastic character. He motivated the boys brilliantly all afternoon despite results.

It would be all too easy to look at the score lines in each game and assume that the goalkeeper had not had a good afternoon. This could not have been further from the truth! I would go as far as to say that out of the 4 games that the boys played, Toby Rice could have been given man of the match in all 5! His goalkeeping was fantastic and he made some unbelievable saves (one of which the boys were adamant his didn’t get his finger tips to but the photographic evidence proves otherwise) during a difficult afternoon. How on earth anyone stands around in goal when temperatures duck below freezing I do not know, let alone have such an impressive performance. Toby showed some real resilience during the afternoon and his character as a great competitor really shone through. There wasn’t a single boy in the team who was in any doubt that the man of the tournament was goalkeeper Toby Rice.

A special mention also to Caolan Pearce who is in year 10 – Caolan has recently completed his refereeing qualification and regularly officiates junior football on the weekend. He travelled to Nailsea with the boys and refereed all of their matches as well as helping to coach & lead the group. All of the younger boys really look up to Caolan and what a fantastic role model to have for them! Well done & thank you Caolan!

Hard luck boys – plenty more football to come after half term.

Mr Cook