This was our first football match of 2017 and it was typical January weather, cold winds and sideways rain. When we arrived we were told we were in Group 1 and would play 3 matches. After a quick warm up we played our first game against Writtle Junior School.
Harvey scored our first goal, followed soon by Bobby and then Harvey scored his second goal of the match. After some good chances for Writtle and great saves from Callum the final whistle was blown and we had won our first game 3-0. Our second match was against Perryfields, a team we had played before and knew how well they played. Early on Perryfields scored their first goal and despite good defending and passing from Lawford Mead, Perryfields scored a second goal with the game finishing 2-0 to Perryfields. We then had a quick break which gave us time to catch our breath and reflect after such a fierce game against Perryfields. After a quick shuffle of positions we were then up to play Baddow Hall. The game was full of equal chances and both teams played exceptionally well and the final whistle blew at 1-1 with our goal coming from Harvey. We were then told we would be playing all the teams again as part of the round. So we grabbed a snack discussed our positions and went back up against Writtle. This time Writtle knew what to expect and played superbly, defending and attacking and despite many chances the game finished 1-1 with Matthew scoring our goal. Next up was Perryfields, we were determined to win as they were the only team we had lost against. Matthew started us off with an early goal to put us 1-0 up. Perryfields played at their usual high level but despite great defending Harvey was able to get another goal past them with the whistle blowing with a 2-0 win to Lawford Mead. After another quick break standing in the rain, we were up against Baddow hall. Again, the game was full of equal chances and the two teams were equally matched and the game finished 0-0.
The referees then called up the teachers to tell for the results of the group stages. I then went back to tell the team that there were 3 teams in our group each with 11 points and the winner was decided on the amount of goals. She then told us we had won our group stage and were off to play in the semi-finals! We were then to play Moulsham who were the runner up of Group 2.
Moulsham got an early goal and we were pushing hard to score. Chance after chance with great saves by their keeper and suddenly Matthew scored!!! We then went onto extra time and golden goal. Moulsham pushed hard and we defended harder keeping the score at 1-1 after extra time. The winner would then be decided on sudden death penalties.
With myself and Mrs Burrells nervously biting our nails, Moulsham stepped up to take their penalty. 1-0. Bobby’s turn. 1-1. Moulsham took it to 2-1. Harvey’s turn. 2-0. Moulsham stepped up, shot and Callum saved it! This was our chance. Callum A stepped up. Our hearts were beating so fast as he hit the ball straight into the back of the net! We had made it to the final! Commiserations to Moulsham as it was a really enjoyable match to watchthe boys were polite and respectful.
We were then straight into our next match against Mildmay. They were a strong and quick team and despite wonderful defending and goalkeeping skills they managed to score 3 goals. Lawford Mead kept their heads held high and despite a phenomenal goal from Bobby from the half way line it wasn’t enough and we finished the game losing 3-1 to Mildmay. Huge congratulations to Mildmay who played a great game.
Although we didn’t win I was really, really proud of their performance. They helped make decisions about who was to play where, respected decisions I made about the squad and listened carefully to myself and, more importantly, each other during the games. It was a real pleasure to watch them play and learn. The boys were excellent role models for the school and I was really proud to be standing with them (despite the rain and wind) as they represented Lawford Mead.
