This was the first of 3 summer tournaments entered by the team, and was organised by Colchester Villa. Most of the boys played for Villa at U-8s before we decided to set up a team for this age group within Bergholt Heath – and this was a late invite to replace a team who had dropped out. The tournament actually took place on the very day we had pencilled in for the start of training! Therefore we set off to Highwoods Sports Centre on Saturday 6th July without too much expectation as the boys had not played together since April.
The tournament included teams from a wider geographical region than the Colchester league, including teams from the Woodbridge, Ipswich and Chelmsford areas. Highlights included our first ever headed goal in competition, scored by Jamie Bowden Vs Wivenhoe ,and James Hirst scoring a wonder goal to win the semi final Vs Springfield, winning the ball on the halfway line before weaving his way past 4 players and coolly slotting the ball into the net with virtually the last kick of the game!
The final against Maldon Town was a tense affair with the boys not surprisingly looking decidedly tired. It finished 0-0, going to a penalty shootout. After the first Maldon penalty had struck the post, Antonio Sabini coolly slotted the ball low into the corner, resulting in joyful celebrations by the players – much to the surprise of the parents who thought this was slightly ‘over the top’ for the first penalty – the shootout was ‘sudden death’ and we had won the tournament!