Today the U12 boys A team competed in Division 1 for the League Winners Trophy. The squad of Elliott, Aiden, Tobias, Noah, Aurav, Pranav, Charlie, James and Tommy knew that every one of their 4 games today was like a final.

The morning started with a tough match against Thirsk which began being end to end but eventually, Wakefield began to dominate play and transferred this into scoring two goals in quick succession to win the game 2-0.

Next, they played City of York, who were a tough opponent and matched us in all areas. The boys showed excellent resilience and determination in the match and continued to battle in every tackle. Many of our chances seemed to not be connecting in the final moment and we were unable to convert these chances. Fortunately, they kept out a last minute short corner from York (who hadn’t converted either) to draw the game 0-0. This left us needing two wins from two to keep fate in our own hands.

The penultimate match was against Doncaster who put up a stern defence and seemed to thwart all our chances. Digging deep, the boys kept playing as a team continuing to pass around opposition players. In a team move, the ball was put across the D where Tommy was placed to knock past the keeper and into the back of the Doncaster net. This was the only goal in the game which we won 1-0.

Our final game was against Hull (who had beaten York in their previous game) and the boys went in knowing and thinking they needed to win to secure first place in the league. In fact, they had already won the league but were completely unaware. A true team performance came out where every single one of the 8 goals scored involved passes between at least 3 of the boys. This 8-1 win meant we didn’t keep a full tournament clean sheet but we won the final game emphatically and with class and style. This meant the boys were top of the league with 10 points - 4 points clear of the rest of the teams - and are the league champions.

As their coach, I am proud to be in charge of a team who obviously enjoy playing with each other, play as a team and succeed as a team (senior teams could learn a lesson from them). It was fab to be awarded the first trophy this season and be given it in front of a welcoming crowd. I awarded the coaches player of the day to Aurav and the boys voted their players player of the day to Tobias.

Once again, a huge congratulations to U12 Boys A team on becoming League Champions.