On Saturday 16th March the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley District Under 14s Schoolboys were unfortunately eliminated from the ESFA National Competition, one bridge from the final at West Bromwich Albion's stadium, The Hawthorns.
The representative team, which includes no fewer than six St Christopher's players, have travelled miles, literally and figuratively in this competition and should be proud of the massive achievement in getting this far.
On the day it wasn't to be, with the City of Manchester drawing on all corners of their huge catchment area to assemble a side inclusive of many talented footballers who have already represented some of the biggest clubs in the world and their national teams. Men against boys on paper, but not in terms of effort, guile, commitment, endurance and most importantly spirit and it's this final attribute that was most rewarding from the defeat as they refused to lie down and fully entertained a crowd of over 350 people at Shawbridge Stadium in Clitheroe. The St Christopher's warmth shone through even with this, with dozens of teachers and pupils, from all departments and interactions with the group, coming out on their weekend to soak up the action!
The journey started in September with a 9-1 defeat of Sefton, Merseyside and this was followed by wins against Stockport, Greater Manchester (5-3) and Leeds, Yorkshire (4-2). Offset against other notable victories against Blackpool, The Wirral, Bradford and Preston they went on to defeat Knowsley & St Helen's 4-2 in the last 16 and then Middlesbrough 1-0 in the quarter finals. The team remains an unbeaten force in the Lancashire Cup and we now turn our attention to this competition in our pursuit of silverware. Their next competitive games are against South Ribble and Blackburn respectively.
The achievement of this group of boys is not to be underestimated and their progress in a national competition draws attention to the other seven teams, girls and boys, operating on a shoestring budget and landing punches with big cities across the country.
| We celebrate:
Alfie Mara-Brown (Goalkeeper) Harry Dickinson (Left back) Ewan Henderson (Defensive midfielder)
Daneil Juriansz (Attacking midfielder and top goalscorer)
Ashton Prestage (Centre forward)
Fenton Chatwin (Left winger) |
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Photo's courtesy of Tony Kirk Photography.
Find out more about the ESFA (English Schools Football Association) here.