On Sunday afternoon our Player Development Centre travelled to Doncaster Rovers to take part in The Keepmoat Cup for the second year running...
The U13s were in a group along with Doncaster Rovers Dev One, Peterborough JF & Doncaster Rovers B.An opening win of 4-0 against Peterborough JF was a perfect start with goals coming from Dylan Elliott and Alfie Lee who claimed a brace apiece.
Next up was Doncaster Rovers B and another great display brought a 2-1 win with both goals scored by Harris Eggleston.
The final group game was against Doncaster Rovers Dev 1 and again, a fantastic team display earned them a 3-2 victory with goals coming from Dylan, Alfie & Harris.
This meant that Town finished top of their group and qualified for the Super Group.
Town were joined by other group winners in Rochdale, Scarborough & Doncaster Rovers Dev 2, though this time it was not meant to be as Town drew against Doncaster and narrowly lost to the other two sides.
Overall, we were really pleased with the players efforts and to qualify for the Super Group was a huge achievement.
Squad: Dylan Elliott, Alfie Lee, Jacob Abbott, Connor Molloy, Liam Pinchen, Harris Eggleston, Jake Nichols, Luka Johnston
Ben Parker
U13 Coach
The U11s, meanwhile, finished 2nd in their opening group of four, which included Scottish giants Celtic plus Kettering and Mark Barber Soccer School.
The first game of the day was a 1-0 defeat to Celtic, with the boys putting in a fantastic performance against the Scottish Champions, ending up extremely unlucky not to get anything from the game.
Game number two was a 1-1 draw with Mark Barber Soccer School, where Town lead for most of the game before conceding right at the death to narrowly miss out on a first win.
The final game of the group was a 1-0 win over Kettering, in which Town should of won by more having played extremely well.
This left the U11s in Pool Two and narrowly missing out on Pool One for the knockout stage.
In the Quarter-Final Town beat Scarborough 3-1 with their best performance of the day, the pick of the goals being a powerful free kick from Donnie Green that went in off the crossbar.
The final game of the day came in the Semi-Final with Doncaster nicking a 2-1 win after being 2-0 to the good.
Town piled on the pressure at the end, but couldn't get over the line and found themselves out of the tournament.
Overall it was a fantastic display by the U11s and they should all be extremely proud of their performances.
U11 Squad: Alfie Clarke, Isaac Harris, Charlie Moss, George Meaking, Ollie Saltmarsh, Ralph Walker, Donnie Green, Charlie Parker
Tom Hullock
U11s Coach
The U9 group were also challenged throughout the tournament, but Lead Coach, Ryan Smith, was pleased with the experience the boys received.
“It was a tough test for our boys, but it was a more than worthwhile experience.
“For them to play against a massive team like Celtic is an unbelievable experience and one they will remember for a while.”
The U9s played Celtic, Mark Barber Soccer School and Hemsworth in the group stages, before facing Wiggington Grasshoppers in the Pool C Quarter Final.
The quality was high throughout and the progress the boys have made again was evident throughout.
We would like to say a huge well done to everyone who took part and a thank you to the coaches and parents who made the day possible.