10 Boys Football Tournament

On Tuesday 17 January a group of year 10 boys travelled to Backwell School to contest the North Somerset football tournament. There was no year 11 tournament organised this year so this was potentially their last opportunity for school tournament football so there was a real determination amongst the group to go out & give it their all.

There were 9 schools in attendance on the afternoon that were split into 3 pools of 3. After the initial pool stages the teams that all finished in the same position in their respective pools would go on to compete in 3 final pools to decide final standings; cup, plate and bowl. St Kath’s were drawn against Backwell and Broadoak in their qualification pool and were due to face Backwell in their first match having just watched them beat Broadoak 3-1.

St Kath’s started brightly and their midfield quintet were able to get on the ball a lot. An early foray into opposition territory saw a ball threaded through for lone striker Sam Sanders who found himself chasing down the pass with the keeper heading out to close him down. Sam managed to get his left toe to the ball just before the keeper to flick it passed him and in to the net giving his team the lead minutes into their first match. There really is nothing like an early goal to set the tone and build confidence and SK continued to enjoy a lot of the ball in the first half. At half time the boys were happy to keep the same system and headed out to hold onto their 1 goal lead. Backwell grew stronger in the second half and saw a lot of the ball. Despite their possession they weren’t able to work the ball through the SK defence and were unable to really test keeper Powell. Caolan and Bailee were very strong in the heart of the defence and were supported brilliantly by midfielders Crutchley and Phillips who covered a lot of ground in front of them.

The boys headed out for the second pool game against Broadoak knowing that they only needed a draw to qualify top of the group and immediately you could see a freedom in their play. The boys enjoyed huge success out wide against Broadoak with Aldom and Rickards combining well down the right and Zhang and Chittem linking well on the left. This threat pulled the Broadoak central players ever wider leaving some holes in the middle of the pitch. Kieran doesn’t need much invitation to drive the ball at pace towards the goal and midway through the first half found himself clean through in the penalty area and able to finish with real quality into the bottom left corner. The boys continued to enjoy long spells of possession and West, Phillips and Crutchley were proving a really effective combination. Kai and Kieran loved playing alongside Matty with his natural ball winning talents and on most occasions he was the start of the SK attack. Matty was rewarded for his efforts just before half time when he found himself in the right place at the right time to put a poorly cleared corner kick into the back of the net. The boys held out for the second half, finished top of their group and were left eagerly awaiting the others schools who would be their opposition for this final round.

Having found out they would play Churchill and then Nailsea in their final group SK were determined to give everything in search of victory. Their hopes were tainted when Churchill took the lead midway through the first half and their resolve was really tested right up until the half time whistle. This group have bags of character and they were going to need every bit of it to turn the game around in the second half. Kieran made some changes to the system at half time and moved himself and Mickey up front changing to 4-4-2. This had an immediate impact with Kieran and Mickey linking up brilliantly on a number of occasions but the boys were still in search of that illusive equalising goal. Centre half Bailee Harrison found himself dribbling the ball out of defence and beating the first man, he was then fouled by the second and third man but remained on his feet and was still moving forward with the ball. I remember screaming in my head ‘PASS THE BALL’ but I’m glad Bailee didn’t because his final touch was to play a deft through ball for Mickey to finish low to the keepers right and into the back of the net. One of the best solo runs I have seen for a while and the finish to boot! SK weren’t finished and upped their level in search of the winner. The boys at the back were winning the ball and marshalled brilliantly by Caolan whose defensive strategy really nullified the Churchill attacking threat. Kieran was picking up on every ball in the midfield and his ability to give and receive a pass made him the linchpin in the SK attack. The Churchill defenders were so concerned about his attacking threat that they failed to stop the other boys getting in on the action. Paul Rickards was in behind a number of times, Kai West had a huge amount of ball and Mickey Chittem was the standout played on the pitch at that point in the game with the Midas touch. It was no surprise that it was Mick who popped up with the winner during this period of dominance.

Before their final match the boys had watched Nailsea beat Churchill and so it all came down to the last game of the day. Nailsea were clearly an impressive outfit and had played some excellent football against Churchill. They continued their form into the early part of their final game and were rewarded with two early goals which crushed SK. The first came after a Nailsea runner go to the by-line and drove the ball back across low and hard. The cross ricocheted of a SK defender and gave Ed no chance at all in goal. The second goal was just as unlucky but you couldn’t say that Nailsea didn’t deserve their lead as they were playing the better football. Despite going behind SK were giving 100% to compete all over the pitch. The big characters in the team were really leading from the front and I was thoroughly enjoying every minute of watching Kieran leading by example and competing as hard as he could. Kieran offered hopes of a resurgence with a phenomenal solo effort capped off with an impressive finish having opened his body up brilliant to bend the ball around the keeper and into the bottom corner. Nailsea moved up another gear and the quality of their football was excellent. They scored another goal to take the tie away from SK but the boys were delighted with their afternoon.

Man of the tournament was an easy decision for me and had to go to captain Kieran Phillips (pictured left mid flow). So often boys from other schools identify Kieran as the best footballer on the pitch – a decision I would completely agree with! However there is so much more to Kieran than just being the best footballer on show. Kieran led boys brilliantly and you could visibly see every member of the team wanting to work hard for him and just enjoying playing football with him. Not once did he criticise, he was always positive and led by example technically, mentally and physically. Kieran is also extremely tactically astute and would come to me with ideas about changes he wanted to make to affect the game. In my opinion a really complete performance from a hugely impressive sportsman.

A brilliant afternoon for me with a group of young men who are fantastic characters and were a real credit to themselves and the school.

Congratulations on your achievement gentlemen – well deserved.

Mr Cook