English Schools' Football Association

Day 3 action: Vale of White Horse v West Cornwall

Results from Wednesday 20 April

East Cornwall 0 Isle of Wight 4
Vale of White Horse 3 West Cornwall 3
Cambridge 3 South Tyneside 0
Coventry 3 Luton 1
Tameside Blues 4 Mid-Somerset 2
East Riding 4 Bridgwater 0
Nuneaton 0 Yeovil 2
Bishop Auckland 0 Tameside Whites 0
Hartlepool 2 Dorset (Guest side) 3

Day Three Report

The superb weather continued on Day 3 of the Festival with some more even matches than previously. Hartlepool and West Cornwall probably vied for the best performance of the say with the Cornish side following two heavy defeats by drawing 3-3 with the Vale of White Horse. As the Vale’s report sheet said “Well played West Cornwall who outplayed Vale for much of the game.” The Cornish side hit the post in the 4^th minute and although the Oxfordshire side took the lead a minute later against the run of play, West Cornwall equalised through Liam Prynn and went 3-1 up with another goal from Prynn and a third from Morgan Vallejo before Vale fought back to level the game with goals from Jarred Jones and Liam Shaw.

Hartlepool played the Dorset county side visitors at West Wight and but for some slack defensive play and a late missed penalty would have drawn 3-3 in a game played in difficult conditions on a bumpy pitch. The first 0-0 of a high scoring Festival came at Brading between Bishop Auckland and Tameside Whites while Mid-Somerset suffered their first defeat of the week against the Tameside Blues, both of whom are still unbeaten.

Cambridge recovered well from two defeats to beat South Tyneside 3-0 while another side to record their first win was the local Isle of Wight squad who proved too strong for East Cornwall. Bradley Taylor was again in superb form in the Island goal and they led 3-0 at the break through goals from Arthur Bradbury (2) and Albert Egboh. Bradbury completed his hat-trick in the second half but East Cornwall fought back well and both Tom Bailless and Harry Collier had to clear off the Isle of Wight line.

East Riding continued their excellent week and recorded their third successive win as they defeated Bridgwater 4-0 while Yeovil did well to beat Nuneaton who had scored seven on Day 2.

Day 4 action: Nuneaton v Bridgwater

Results from Thursday 21 April

West Cornwall 1 East Riding 5
East Cornwall 1 Tameside Whites 1
Tameside Blues 9 Luton 0
Isle of Wight 2 Portsmouth 3
Yeovil 2 Coventry 2
Bridgwater 2 Nuneaton 3
Cambridge 1 Hartlepool 3
Bishop Auckland 2 Vale of White Horse 2
Mid Somerset 2 South Tyneside 2

Day Four Report

The last morning of the Festival always produces mixed results as injuries, fatigue and this year, hot weather, contribute to the pattern of the games. Nowhere was this clearer than at Medina High School where Bridgwater and Nuneaton looked very weary in the first half, although the Midlands side scored twice through Harry Woodley and Harry Donovan with a penalty. Bridgwater had suffered some heavy defeats and had not scored a goal during the Festival, and when they missed narrowly with the last kick of the first half, it seemed that they would never ‘ break their duck’. They showed their spirit in the second half to equalise though goals from Jack Millard and Harry Horton (penalty) but sadly suffered their fourth defeat when Woodley scored a last minute goal for Nuneaton.

There was another disappointing ending at Seaclose Park when East Cornwall who had a difficult week, were leading the undefeated Tameside Whites with a minute of added time remaining after Ethan Stark had scored after 20 minutes. In the last minute, however, Tameside had a corner which bounced around the six yard box and after several players had got a touch, was eventually deflected into his own net by the East Cornwall goalkeeper.

East Riding completed a 100% week by beating West Cornwall 5-1 with a hat-trick from Harry Cardwell and two from Callum Lancaster while the only other one-sided game was that in which Tameside Blues thrashed a tired Luton side 9-0. For the Greater Manchester side, Kieron Setterfield matched Sam Wits’ achievement on Day 2 by scoring five times. Mid-Somerset completed their best ever Festival with a second half recovery against South Tyneside to draw 2-2. Another 2-2 draw came at Rookley FC between Bishop Auckland and Vale of White Horse after a game which both sides claimed was ‘a great end to the Festival.’ Hartlepool also achieved their best ever results at a Festival as they recorded their third victory 3-1 against Cambridge after a superb first half performance in which they missed several gilt-edged chances including one from three yards before finding the target three times in the latter part of the half.

Playing Record

Photographs courtesy of www.rwt-photography.co.uk