U9 Football Tournament, St Bernard’s - Saturday 6 February, 2016

12th February 2016

As Storm Imogen raged last week, there was doubt as to whether the U9 tournament would be going ahead. No phone call from the organisers on Friday meant an early start on Saturday for our young footballers. Luckily the poor weather ceased for the few hours the parents and I stood on the sidelines cheering on the Gateway boys.

The A team started off the competition against St Bernard’s, and it was clear it was only a matter of time before we put the ball in the back of the net. 3-0 was a comfortable scoreline at the final whistle. Into the second game the boys were confident having scored 3 good goals past St Bernard’s, however despite all the pressure applied by Gateway it was Papplewick that managed to put the ball past the keeper for a 1-0 win. The third game was against a team who moved the ball around well and created good chances. Claire’s Court materialised on these and the game finished 3-1 to them. The final game against Dair House was a one sided game with Gateway putting 3 between the posts. After the round robin it turned out we had to play Dair House again for 3rd or 4th. The boys went into the game confident and managed to score 5 before the final whistle for a 3rd place finish.

The B team followed in the A team’s footsteps with a strong start against Dair House, applying pressure and pressing the opposition finishing by knocking 7 into the net. The second game was against St Bernard’s who were a stronger opposition and held out until Gateway materialised on the opportunities they created and finished the game 2-0. A great start to the tournament, but the two strongest teams were up next. The tough opposition Papplewick held our boys to a 0-0 draw which meant we now had 7 points going into the last game. So Claire’s Court was the last opponent in the round robin and after a gruelling 12 minutes neither team was able to break the deadlock and with 8 points Gateway finished top of the round robin. Claire’s Court finished second so a playoff for first and second meant it was going to be another tight game. From end to end it could have been either team’s game but unfortunately it was Claire’s Court that managed to score. The final whistle and Gateway had to accept second place. A position to be proud of after a tough end to tournament.

The boy’s behaviour was impeccable and they were fantastic ambassadors for the school.

U9 A Team

Scorers & Final Result

St Bernard’s 3-0
William St C-B
George C
Henry G

Papplewick 0-1

Claire’s Court 1-3
Henry G

Dair House 3-0
G Caille x 2
T Grief-King

Dair House in Playoff 5-0
William St C-B x2
George C x2
Sam B

3rd