2017 Caversham AFC Primary Schools Tournament

The 2017 Caversham AFC Primary Schools Football Tournament, took place at St Anne’s primary school on Thursday 18th May, and this year the tournament was extended to a whole day with a
• Mini tournament in the morning for Years 4/3, and a
• Junior tournament in the afternoon for Years 6/5.

8 schools competed in both events this year (Caversham Park, Caversham Primary, Emmer Green, Micklands, St Anne’s, St Martin’s, Thameside, & The Hill)

The sun graced us with it’s presence for the inaugural mini-tournament, but gave way to a light rain during the afternoon’s junior tournament. However, the rain did not seem to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm and two very interesting and well fought contents ensued.

Mini tournament
This was the first time we have had the younger children playing and whilst they children, the ball, and the pitch were smaller - the competition to be the first name on the new trophy was enormous.

Every team had at least one goal to cheer on, and whilst St Martin’s did not win a match – their draw against The Hill was enough to prevent The Hill taking home the winners shield.
Perhaps the biggest game of the morning was the game between the Thameside (the only team unbeaten at the time), and Caversham Primary (who had conceded just one goal), as whoever won was likely to take the trophy home. In the end, that game was decided by just a solitary goal, and saw Caversham Primary win, and go on to claim the first ever Caversham AFC Mini Shield 2017.

In the end the battle for 2 place was settled by goals difference with The Hill claiming the Runners up position, with Thameside coming 3rd.

It was impossible to separate the schools for the Mini Fair Play Award, as every single school was magnificent and all played in a thoroughly sporting manner. Therefore we decided to pick the winner based on the school that showed the ethos of Caversham AFC (never give up, always try your best, and play with a smile on your face/have fun ) – and the referees were unanimous, that this should go to St Martin’s

The Final positions for the Mini Tournament were:

Junior tournament
This year’s Junior Tournament was very much a case of déjà vu.
As with last year, the tournament was high contested, but as it progressed two teams started to pull clear and just like last year, the final match of the day was a straight winner takes all shoot-out between Caversham Primary & The Hill.
Both teams had only conceded 1 goal each in their previous 5 games, so it was always going to be a tight affair, and with a draw favouring Caversham Primary, The Hill had to try and score.

A close game was eventually decided by a single goal, which went to Caversham Primary, and they become the winners of the Caversham AFC Junior Shield 2017.

In a second case of déjà vu - this time mimicking the mornings event - the runners up were The Hill, and Thameside were 3rd.

This year’s Junior Fair Play Award went to Caversham Park, who were sporting and polite throughout and on several occasion assisted the referee by calling decisions (against themselves) with regards to throws and corners.

Once again a big “Thank you”, goes out to St Annes for allowing us to use their wonderful facilities, the teachers of all the schools who supported their teams, but most of all congratulations to all the players who took part, as it was you that made this such a fantastic event.

The Final positions for the Junior Tournament were:

PREVIOUS JUNIOR WINNERS

Hope to see you all next year.