Year 7 Football Team Win School Summer Cup!

The competitive sporting calendar kept on rolling and resulted in a fantastic and well-deserved tournament win for the Year 7 boys football team last week!

The temperature was soaring, the team was excited and there were four teams standing in the way of Oulton Academy and glory. The squad hadn’t played together for a while and the format was a 6-player team rather than the usual 9-a-side games the team are used to. Despite these factors and thanks to the great motivation and resilience of the players, the weather might have been baking but the tournament ended up being a cakewalk!

Oulton Academy began a little nervously in the first game and it took over ¾ of the match before we found a breakthrough and scored the first goal. A second quickly followed and from then on, the team grew and grew in all areas. The reflection period between each game meant we could make some corrections to our performance and Oulton ended up not only reaching the final by winning all our games, but also being top scorers. Beating fierce rivals Cockburn School convincingly, 2-0 on route to the final. 

Then the final. Cockburn had managed to sneak through on goal difference compared to another side so Oulton Academy had to play them again. In the penultimate match before the final, an injury to the influential captain Alfie H, meant he was ruled out of contention and couldn’t play.

The game was much closer, much more frantic and the margins were closer. Oulton Academy were threatening and having plenty of chances, meaning Cockburn had to defend deep and in numbers. Cockburn had their own chances though and were hitting Oulton on the break. Disaster then struck... two minutes to go and Cockburn scored a fluke of a goal from a fast break away. One of only three goals conceded throughout the entire tournament!

However, Oulton Academy students are made of tougher, more resilient stuff these days and fought back relentlessly, scoring a vital equaliser with 15 seconds left on the clock!

The aforementioned resilience and also some great self-confidence came to the fore again as Oulton Academy were taken to a 3-man penalty shoot-out. Cockburn missed their first penalty and Oulton calmly scored all three of ours! Winners!!!

Showing respect, the team shook hands with the unfortunate Cockburn School side, keeping the celebrations to the bus drive home!

Well done Oulton Academy's Year 7 footballers! A fantastic end to the year!

Squad: Max L (Gk), Jacob E, Sam B Alfie H (C), Braxton H, Lewis C, Liam M, Harrison D, Kayden M

#OultonMindset