The Bridgewater under 9s (plus Max) discovered the large difference in football ability that can be experienced from opposition teams in their age group over the last few days. A 7-1 warm up victory against Greenbank School last Thursday led the boys to believe that they were becoming world beaters and that the feast of goals scored by Victor, Joey and Carter would be enough in the forthcoming tournament at Stockport Grammar School.
Mr. Rooney thought differently when he saw the fixtures and made plans to build a three man defence for the tournament, or park the mini bus across the goal! The team arrived in Stockport very excitedly. The sunshine was lovely and our hosts were very welcoming. Our first game was against King’s Chester which is a famous football school. King’s knocked the ball around with great confidence and had the benefit of the Bridgewater team allowing them far too much space. Shots rained on the Bridgewater goal, keeping ‘Man of the Match’ William extremely busy. Noah, Asa, Jerry and Carter all tried to stem the green tide but it was William who got all the cheers from the King’s crowd, who took the time to congratulate him afterwards. Without William the score would have been much more than the 4-0 finish.
Mr. Rooney had strong words with the boys about closing the opposition and work rate before the second game against Cheadle. The Bridgewater response was excellent. Max started to weave his magic and Joey set the precedent of hard work and controlled aggression. Then came the moment of sheer brilliance when Carter threaded an exquisite pass through to Victor who was thwarted by the keeper. Victor did though mange to score a consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat.
Our final game against Stockport was the culmination of the learning over the last few days of hard work, communication and skill development. Bridgewater were better in all areas of play. Carter, Victor and Joey scored in a 3-1 victory.
Congratulations to the whole squad!