At the beginning of July, our Academy Year 4s (U9s) took part in the BWCI Mini Soccer Festival, competing against Year 5 (U10) teams. These teams included local Guernsey clubs, as well as some from Jersey. Bristol City also returned to the island as defending champions.
The weekend long tournament saw teams firstly take part in a group stage made up of 8 teams. Teams then progressed to either the Shield competition if they finished in the top 4, or the Plate competition for the bottom four sides.
Day 1
The Aztech group had an extremely impressive first day. Victories over St. Pauls and Grouville from Jersey, as well as St. Martins and North, gave the GFA Academy side a 4th place finish in their group. This secured them a spot in the second group phase for the Shield competition on the Sunday.
It left them a very difficult challenge as they were placed in a group with both Bristol City sides, as well as Jersey Scottish.
Crunch Time
On the Sunday, the team began with a very solid 1-1 draw against Bristol City; but they then suffered a 1-0 loss to Jersey Scottish. This meant that their final group game was crucial; needing a win, and the other result to go their way as well.
The Aztech side got their win, a 1-0 vs Bristol City Robins; and incredibly, the other result went in their favour to take the Aztech side through to the semi-finals on goals scored!
This set up a rematch with St. Pauls, and once again the GFA side outperformed their Jersey counterparts to make the final. An incredible achievement.
Final
The Aztech side went out with nothing to lose as they walked down the tunnel at Footes Lane with a big crowd watching. They were to face off once again with Bristol City for the honours of BWCI champions.
The boys played extremely well again, but unfortunately couldn’t quite keep up the momentum. Bristol took the game 2-0 to retain the trophy.
This will be an experience that the boys will take with them for many years to come. Hopefully the players can continue to build on the success from the weekend; having now learned what it takes to compete and be successful in tournament moments when the stakes are high.
Well done to all the players involved, as well as Angus, Jacques and Dalton for leading the group this season.
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