FOOTBALL

The under fourteens very much enjoyed taking part in their first tournament of the season recently, hosted at Portman Road. Split into two teams, the first group opened their day against Kesgrave A in a hard fought and tiring encounter concentrated in midfield. Kesgrave took an early lead they never relinquished, but Fazil and Theo in particular helped us get back into the game, and Ollie made a brilliant penalty save towards the end.  The second game, against Beccles A, was a slower paced match with much of it played in the opposition half. Moses made a series of brilliant tackles in what proved to be a frustrating encounter in the end, as Beccles stole a goal on the break to win.  Unfortunately the pattern was similar in the final game against Saxmundham A: plenty of possession but very few attempts on goal.  In an end to end game, Saxmundham took their two chances to secure the win.   The B team had a better day of it: in the first game Max scored twice up front while Tom kept a clean sheet in defence thanks to a fine save. 3 points won – the team feeling good! The second game was against Farlingaye which added a bit of local rivalry to the proceedings. In a tight encounter we defended as hard as possible and Erwan made some amazing saves. The match ended 0-0, giving us a well-earned point.  The final games was against group leaders Kesgrave (we were joint second). Our approach was determined, but two headers from the opposition in rapid succession proved too much for us as they ran out winners by 3-0. The team, made up of Year 8 and Year 9 players who had not played together before, was proud of its efforts and the points gained.