Robs are Just the Job in Year 2 Football Festival
Leechpool School felt the patter of many tiny football feet this afternoon as it hosted a Horsham District Year 2 Football Festival. At the end of an exciting afternoon St Robert Southwell emerged victorious coming out the right side of the odd goal in five against the also impressive St Mary’s Pulborough team.
The eight teams were initially split into two round-robin groups of four. In Group A St Robert Southwell registered a full house of victories although second placed Slinfold made them work hard in their final group game. Heron Way B beat Leechpool A heavily to ensure third spot at least but Slinfold ended their hopes of reaching the top tier finals inflicting a 3-0 defeat.
St Mary’s Pulborough were the dominant force in Group B. A24 road closures delayed their arrival but they were worth the wait hitting 10 goals in their three games and only conceding to Leechpool C. Leechpool C drew with Heron Way A and looked likely to surpass them to come second until stablemates Leechpool B held them to a 1-1 draw in their last match to hold them in third.
Heron Way A looked likely to take advantage of their slightly fortuitous progression to the top tier semi-finals by pulling off a shock win over the slick St Robert Southwell team. They took a 2-0 lead and their goalkeeper played a blinder to protect it. However St Roberts plugged away in the second half, pulled one back and then with seconds remaining levelled to take the tie to a footgolf decider which they won by a big margin.
In the other semi St Mary’s Pulborough overcame Slinfold in a good match to complete the final line-up. Pulborough struck first, St Roberts hit back, Pulborough took the lead again mid second half. St Roberts refused to give up, levelled and then struck the decisive goal with less than a minute on the clock.
Heron Way A made up at least partially for the disappointment of their footgolf defeat in the semi by winning the third place play-off, also 3-2, versus Slinfold. C prevailed over B in the all-Leechpool battle for fifth spot and Heron Way B beat Leechpool A 4-0 for seventh.
Great skill, effort, fair play and enthusiasm was displayed by all the children involved, many playing in their first football tournament. Inevitably with children so young there was an amusing moment or two to witness. No footballer of any age can say that s/he’s never done an air shot but not many can lay claim to doing two in succession. One youngster missed his kick on chasing the ball; on getting up from the floor to chase it again he duly completed the double with another non-connecting swing and ended up on the floor again.
In another match a particularly talkative lad in a captain-like style spent most of the first 5 minutes telling his team they had a plan. Unfortunately during that spell he’d had his back consistently turned towards the opposition so he was largely oblivious to the fact that his team had conceded three goals whilst he was spreading his words of reassurance!
Thanks to Leechpool School for hosting a most enjoyable and entertaining event.
RESULTS
| PITCH 1 Group A Heron Way B – 7 pts Leechpool A – 3 pts St Robert Southwell – 15 pts Slinfold – 11 pts | PITCH 2
5pts win, 3 draw, 1 loss, 1 extra for loss where score 50% or more of opponent’s winning score | PITCH 3 Group B Heron Way A – 9pts Leechpool B – 5 pts Leechpool C – 8 pts St Mary’s Pulborough – 15 pts |
PHASE 1 – GROUPS | |||
12.40-12.53 | 6 Slinfold v Leechpool A 0 | 5 St Robert Southwell v Heron Way B 0 | 2 Heron Way A v Leechpool C 2 |
12.55-1.08 | 0 Leechpool A v St Robert Southwell 2 | 0 Leechpool B v Heron Way A 3 | 2 Leechpool C v Pulborough 4 |
1.10-1.23 | 1 Slinfold v St Robert Southwell 3 | 0 Leechpool A v Heron Way B 8 | 4 Pulborough v Leechpool B 0 |
1.25-1.38 | 3 Slinfold B v Heron Way B 0 | 2 Pulborough v Heron Way A 0 | 1 Leechpool B v Leechpool C 1 |
PHASE 2 – PLAY-OFFS | |||
1.42-1.55 | MATCH 1 Gp A 3rd v Gp B 4th 0 Heron Way B v Leechpool B 2 | MATCH 2 Gp A 4th v Gp B 3rd 1 Leechpool A v Leechpool C 7 | MATCH 3 Gp A 1st v Gp B 2nd 2 Robert Southwell v Heron Way A 2 Robert Southwell win on footgolf decider |
1.57-2.10 | MATCH 4 Gp A 2nd v Gp B 1st L Slinfold v Pulborough W | In M1, M2, M3, M4 if the game finishes as a draw a footgolf challenge will be used to quickly decide the winner | 7TH PLACE PLAY-OFF Loser M1 v Loser M2 4 Heron Way B v Leechpool A 0 |
2.12-2.25 | 5TH PLACE PLAY-OFF Winner M1 v Winner M2 1 Leechpool B v Leechpool C 3 | 3RD PLACE PLAY-OFF Loser M3 v Loser M4 3 Heron Way A v Slinfold 2 | FINAL Winner M3 v Winner M4 3 Robert Southwell v Pulboro 2 |