Two Woodbrook squads do Bray proud in Holland Cup
Soccer
A 25 strong team of under-14 schoolboys headed off to the Netherlands on Good Friday to take part in the Holland Cup.
The Holland Cup is an International football tournament held in the town of Almere over the course of two days. Teams came from all over Europe from the ages of six up to 17.
Woodbrook Rovers sent two teams to take part in this event.
On Saturday, March 31, one team headed off at 8.30am to the training ground of the local team Almere FC, where they were to play three matches over the course of the day.
They finished up on the top of their group, undefeated with eight points. This meant that the next day they would be put into the fight for the Holland Cup.
The other team set out for the Almere Stadium on Saturday afternoon. They played some good football, but due to illness and injury they were defeated, and had to make the tough decision to withdraw from the rest of the tournament.
Unfortunately the weather was against Woodbrook the next day as it had rained very heavily throughout the night.
When they got to Almere stadium there were teams of all ages awaiting the organisers decision on how the day was to proceed, as all the pitches were flooded.
About an hour later it was decided that the under-14s would play seven-a-side on half of an astro pitch. After ploughing through puddles and muck they made their way to the pitch.
The lads fought hard to pick up their spirits. Having topped their group again, they advanced to the semi-finals where they faced some of the top teams in Europe.
They finished fourth out for 32 teams from all over Europe. An amazing achievement for a little team from Bray.
The boys were delighted to bring home a cup and each proudly received a medal for their wonderful efforts.