Bath Primary Schools’ FA lose
in final
The Bath Chronicle sponsored Bath Schools’ Primary
team reached the final of the annual District schools’
6-a-side tournament on Saturday, narrowly losing to the
Vale of White Horse.
In glorious sunshine Bath selected two squads to take
on some of the best district sides in the South West in
the annual Cotswold 6-a-sides hosted by Swindon SFA.
Drawn firstly against Gloucester, both Bath teams
showed their intentions to play good football and both
were unfortunate to draw and not come away with a
victory. Bradley Norris was a constant threat in
midfield and debutant goalkeeper George Wightman
impressed with some impressive saves and clearances.
Not deterred, the two young Bath sides next met
Swindon, who were unable to cope with the swift passing
movements of the Bath attack. Although numerous chances
were created, the Bath A team won by just the one goal
and the Bath B side drew once more.
A 2-0 victory over Bristol with goals coming from
Daniel Rosser (St Martin’s Garden Primary School) and
Lewis Hunt (WASPS) were enough to send Bath through to
the final. However, the B side were to be punished for
not turning possession into goals missing progression to
the finals by one point after losing narrowly to
Bristol.
“The B side were devastated not to reach the final.
They actually played the best football I saw in the
whole tournament but they did not convert their chances.
I was pleased for the new goal keeper George as he is a
year younger than most of the others and considering it
was his first outing with us he did a fantastic job only
letting in two goals all day.” Coach Tim Kirk
In the final, the Bath boys were confident of turning
over a Vale of White Horse side which they had beaten
earlier on in the season. However, Bath made the worst
start possible when with just 1 minute gone, the Vale
striker was brought down in the Bath area. The Vale of
White Horse captain stepped up to take the penalty and
made no mistakes leaving keeper Sam Butler (St
Phillip’s) watching agonisingly as the ball was drilled
into the bottom left hand corner.
With renewed determination Bath strove forward with
both Jordan Tillson (Bathwick St Mary’s) and Hunt
shooting narrowly wide of the target. Although Bath
continued to retain possession, the resilient Vale
defence stood firm and limited clear opportunities on
goal, holding out to win the cup with a 1-0 victory.
Despite the disappointment of losing the final, Bath
spirits were raised when Lewis Hunt of Weston All Saints
Primary School was awarded the honour of Player of the
tournament 2004.
Teams:
| A Team |
B Team |
|
Sam Butler
Dan Rosser
Oliver Currie
Lewis Hunt
Jordan Tillson
Ernie Peibst |
George Wightman
Jamie Smithies
Myles Jeffries
Richard Watkins
Bradley Norris
Will
Oswin |
