Cup delight for Stanley High School under 13s star soccer players
STANLEY High School’s U13 football team is celebrating national glory after winning the English Schools’ FA Under 13 PlayStation Schools’ Cup for ‘B’ Teams.
Staged at Reading FC’s Madejski Stadium, Stanley High School won the trophy after a 3-1 success against Sidcup’s Hurstmere School.
It is a remarkable double achievement for the same players who won the ESFA Under 12 9-a-side PlayStation Schools’ Cup for ‘B’ Teams at the 2015 Festival.
After a cagey start, all changed as Marco Pinto Ventura scored a brace of goals. Ventura went through and despatched a well struck finish into the far corner.
Ventura again raced through following a delightful through ball and powered home a near post finish to double Stanley’s lead.
There was end-to-end action, before Stanley made the game safe 10 minutes into the second half. With Hurstmere playing a risky high defensive line, Joel Scholes powered his way through to finish past keeper Sam Reilly. In an act of sportsmanship, Scholes went to check on Reilly’s wellbeing after he inadvertently clipped him while scoring his goal.
Hurstmere scored a consolation with three minutes to go when after some pinball action in the box, the ball fell to Timi Padonu who finished coolly into the corner.
The final was part of the PlayStation Schools’ Cup Festival. 15 national football finals from U12-U15 secondary school age groups, featuring boys’ and girls’ teams, took place across three days.
PlayStation and ESFA representatives presented the trophy and medals to Stanley.
As well as getting their hands on the trophy, the team had a day to remember as they not only had the chance to play on the pitch at a professional stadium, but also have their pre-match team talk in the dressing room. Pupils from Stanley also enjoyed the occasion as they were treated to PlayStation 4 gaming, half-time crossbar challenges and giveaways.
The partnership between PlayStation and ESFA kicked off in 2013 and as well as providing a boost to grassroots football, has helped increase the engagement in competitive football for secondary school age categories.
A total of 20 PlayStation Schools’ Cup competitions were staged in 2015/16 and involved 2,000 schools.
More on the project is available on www.playstationschoolscup.com and www. facebook. com/ playstationschoolscup. Or via PlayStation Schools’ Cup and ESFA Twitter pages - @PSSchoolsCup and @SchoolsFootball.