Congratulations to the U13’s & U14’s football team for their success in the recent ISA Competition. A mixture of our u13s and u14s took part in the ISA Boys National Football Championship at Nottingham University. The boys worked extremely hard from the very start and throughout the competition. They did not concede a goal. A fantastic team effort.
On Thursday a mixture of our u13s and u14s took part in the ISA Boys National Football Championship at Nottingham University. The boys worked extremely hard from the very start when St John’s came up against a well organised Queen Ethelburga’s College. St. John’s started quickly – goals from Jayden and Leon made sure we got off to the best possible start and ended with a comfortable 3-0 win.
Stafford Grammar (our next opponents) put up a strong fight but ultimately the quality of St. John’s shone through. Two goals were enough to ensure another win and another clean sheet to help keep a solid start to the national championship.
St. James (our third opponents) found themselves 1-0 down within seconds of the fixture starting. Two further quick goals within minutes of each other put St. John’s 3-0 up. Then a special moment from Leon with him passing three players on his own and crossing the ball for a well-timed finish by Saurap. Saurap had controlled everything from the very first game and continued to be outstanding throughout the tournament. A well deserved 4-0 victory meant St. John’s topped the group with maximum points and without conceding a goal.
The afternoon fixtures were the semi-finals and finals.
St. John’s were drawn then against The Duke of Kent School. The game started off slightly cagey however St. John’s certainly found their groove. Patterns of play all over the pitch including some outstanding diagonal passes from Nathan and Christian. The Duke of Kent school seemed only to be chasing shadows and just could not keep up with our quality both on and off the ball. The goals came flooding in once and again leading to another 3-0 victory to take us into the ISA National Championship Final.
ISA U14s National Football Championship Final.
St. John’s vs Red House School
The boys knew exactly how to approach this game from the very start. Red house were an incredibly physical football team from Teeside and certainly knew they could not match us technically on the pitch. Their game plan was to disrupt our game and play long. Unfortunately for Red House the boys had been briefed on what to expect tactically by Mr Hodgson and Mr Heracleous to which they certainly listened and applied to a tee. Anticipating long balls St. John’s went with an aggressive press from the very start nullifying any opportunity of Red House playing forward. On the turnover of possession St. John’s kept the ball well and punished at the right times. A goal from Leon and another from Saurap was enough to see off Red House and crown St. John’s National Football Champions for the third time!
