Tournament Triumph

Featured Fixture

Bloomsbury U15 Boys at The Ickenham Youth Tournament

A fantastic afternoon at the Ickenham Youth FC Tournament, a well-organised event with hundreds of participants. We were in a group of five, with four U15 group’s overall, and the level was high. We didn’t play in a game with more than three goals difference, and only once was there a two-goal gap between the sides. Seven gruelling matches in the almost 30-degree heat through the middle of the day, a challenge that the Bloomsbury boys were up for! Coming through the group unbeaten with three wins and one draw, conceding just two goals, we were confident heading it to the knockout stages. However, the pressure was on with a format of 3v3 extra-time after the 12 allocated minutes of any knockout fixture. The Quarter Final, Semi-Final and Final all went to extra time, and we won each of them with our three remaining players, Callum, Elijah and Elisha. In two of the games we even went to 2v2, playing without a goalkeeper in an ‘all or nothing’ scenario, which fortunately paid off! The winning goal was scored by Elijah when we were 2v2 in the final, and what a moment it was. A well-deserved tournament victory for the Bloomsbury boys and one that will live long in the memory! Come on you Blooms! The best moment of the day was the winning goal in extra time of the final, as the boys had to overcome adversity and show their quality on the pitch, even when there was chaos elsewhere. We huddled up, displayed the desired attitude, and came together as a team to get the win. It’s impossible to select just one player to receive more credit than the others, as every individual played a key role in the success of the team!

Bloomsbury U12 Girls at The Ickenham Youth Tournament

Ickenham FC was a big operation tournament with lots of teams and age groups in west London. We played 5 group stage matches in the scorching heat and on a pitch that sloped downhill! We came 5th and won our knockout match to get into the semi-final of the plate. Unfortunately we lost our final match but still came away with plate runners up medals! Everyone played with pride and a great attitude and managed to stay hydrated and shaded. Big shoutout to the parents for their support too! Everyone put a great effort in, and our captain Salima was amazing at communicating to the team and giving encouraging words. Jet and Janet started off the scoring with some absolute rockets. Kaya never stopped running today and she got her goal she deserved in the end and assisted a wonderful goal from Janet. Frankie grew into the tournament and put an amazing shift in defence. Remai and Eleanor put in some crucial interceptions and tackles and were very solid. Remai also went in goal and made some great stops! Huge credit to everyone that went in goal! The team battled hard against some very strong teams as Jet and Ella showed some fancy footwork in midfield and Tara too who was flying down the wing despite a knee knock. A memorable moment was when Salima scored a brilliant goal from a tight angle on the right – slotting it front post! Player of the tournament was Remai, it is amazing to see her grow in confidence in her football ability and really start to understand and read the game very well. Only things to improve on is checking our shoulders for runners behind us and then also moving out of each other’s space into a more helpful space to break the forward line pass.