We took 3 teams down to a national tournament in Cleethorpes, U7, U12 & U13 teams. This tournament was attended by teams from all over Britain, not just England.
At the end of Day 1, Saturday, all 3 HTJ teams proudly sat top of their groups.
Sunday morning came with loads of excitement and anticipation. Although all of the lads were a bit tired...they were tired the parents were hung over...the lads all managed win the remaining group games and this meant we had 3 finals all going on in a short space of time.
First up was the U7s. The lads had done excellent so far. Getting to a final with no subs, no keeper and 2 of the kids actually u6s shows was a great achievement this was already. Hebburn took an early lead and played some great football. The philosophy which we try to give right through the club looks like it is paying off as the lads were passing all game. Somehow the referee managed to award a penalty to the opposition...looked like a brilliant tackle to me..the opposition scored and this meant the game was a draw. The dreaded penalties came and as you can imagine it was high drama, going to sudden death...the lads got there just rewards in the end and won the prize.
Next it was the U12s. Most of these lads had never played together, in fact some of them had never met each other. It was mixture of 2 players from the U11 Blues, 3 from U12 Blues, 3 from U12 Hornets, 1 from U12 Golds and 1 lad we found wondering around the caravan site...only kidding...he was a friend of a player. Although the lads had became a team over the 2 days they never really got into there stride in the final until the 2nd half. They could have quite easily been behind but also could have won it in the 2nd half. This game also went to penalties and again it went to sudden death. High drama here but again the lads got what they deserved.
Unfortunately the timing of the finals meant the U12s didn't get to the U13s final until the final whistle just being blown. By all accounts the lads kept up there 100% win record with a screamer of a volley into the top corner. All the 3 HTJ celebrated together after this final whistle and it was a joy to see.
If you have any photos/videos from the weekend send them to me at admin@hebburntownjuniorsfc.co.uk and I will create a gallery on the website.
Norm.