A glorious sunny spring afternoon at Harrow Way Community School set the scene for a great afternoon of football! Fourteen teams from Shipton Bellinger, Abbotts Ann, Longparish, Amport, Vernham Dean, Barton Stacey, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Kimpton, Hatherden, Appleshaw, Clatford and Smannell and Enham all took part in the competition, initially playing in three pools. Eight teams from these pools then entered the knockout stages, playing quarter finals, semi finals and finals. As with the Town Schools’ competition the week before, excellent skill and teamwork were on display, not to mention bucketloads of determination and enthusiasm.
As the competition reached the semi- finals, both games went into extra time , with Smannell and Enham just hanging on to beat Kimpton in one, whilst Abbotts Ann narrowly beat Shipton Bellinger A in the other! The final was equally exciting with a gutsy display from both teams, however Abbotts Ann just had the edge and their one goal in the first half was enough to bring them victory and their first football trophy for a long while.
Congratulations to all those who took part in what was an excellent afternoon’s football,competitive to the end yet played in excellent spirit with all players and supporters demonstrating the Olympic and FA Value of ‘Respect’.
Â
Rhonda Sturges (Harrow Way SSCo) and Lucie Burgess (Clatford School) would like to express their thanks to the Andover College students who ran the lines and refereed the matches, the Harrow Way and Winton Young Apprentices (Tom Longshaw, Luke Bourner, Jordan Compton, Jamie Rawcliffe and Joe Carter) who worked exceptionally hard refereeing and pitch marshalling, as well as setting up and tidying of the equipment, and to Cathy Devereux and Josh Barnett from Lions in the Community for their continued support and time!