Team spirit and hard work secret behind success
Aylesford under-15s are having a season to remember in the Kent Youth League.
They’ve reached two cup finals and have games in hand to challenge for the South Division title.
They meet Ebbsfleet in the Kent County Cup final at Faversham Town’s Salters Lane ground on Sunday (10.30am), having knocked out the likes of Dover Athletic 3-1 and Welling 5- 4 – both ties going to extra-time.
Aylesford are also in the Kent Youth League Challenge Cup final and will meet Kent Football United at Gillingham’s Priestfield ground on April 27 (7pm).
Manager Ray Buckingham said: “Little clubs like ours shouldn’t be getting to cup finals, yet here we are in two and we still have a chance of winning the league.
“We don’t have a big squad – just the 14 players – but we’re taking on and beating these big clubs.
“We’ve not got any stars but what we do have is a fantastic bunch of boys who get on so well.
“The camaraderie is brilliant and I’m an ex-Royal Navy physical trainer, so the boys are exceptionally fit. They’re the reasons we’ve done so well.
“I would be surprised if we didn’t beat Ebbsfleet.” Captain Georgie English has been with the team since he was six, which makes him the only original team member. Squad: Harrison Pont, Johannes Sadler, Samuel Newland, Ben Folkard, Georgie English, George NichollsBrown, Luke Exall, Zak Emmings, Oliver Lee, Reece Germano, Charlie Dale, Charlie Thomas, Fraser Mason, Louis Dos Santos.