Mossley reach the Northern England Finals

North of England Football Finals

After winning the U11 Cheshire football finals, Mossley Y5/6 football team progressed through to the North Of England Finals. The tournament took place on the 5^th March in Rotherham and was attended by champions of the 10 northern counties. After an early start at Mossley CE Primary School, the team, staff and parents took the coach to Maltby Academy, Rotherham and arrived at 11.15am.

Mossley were drawn in group 1 against school teams from the counties/regions of: North Yorkshire, Lancashire, South Yorkshire and Northumberland. It was clear from the first whistle that the competition would be fierce. Adding to the intensity of the competition, each game was only 8 minutes long. Mossley won their first game, 2 – 0. Their second game was won 1 – 0 in a very tight affair. Mossley drew their third group game, 0 – 0 although they had much of the possession and had the better chances. The fourth and final group game saw Mossley emerge as 3 – 1 victors after producing some excellent attacking football.

Progressing through the group stages in 1^st place, Mossley’s next opponents were the runners up from group 2, a team from Cleveland. After 6 minutes of the match, Mossley were in complete control, winning 1 – 0 after having what appeared to be a legitimate – and quite breath-taking top corner pile driver – goal disallowed. Then, the opposition from Cleveland seemed to get a second wind and in all fairness to them, played some great football in the final 2 minutes. They managed to overturn their 1 – 0 deficit and win the game 2 – 1. The Mossley team were obviously devastated, especially as it could be argued that they were the better side for the majority of the game. However, they picked themselves up and went into the 3^rd place play-off against the Lancashire champions they had previously drawn with in the group stages, full of determination to put things right. Mossley won the game 1 – 0 but more importantly, didn’t let their heads drop and give up after their disappointment. All of the staff and parents were incredibly proud of not only what the team managed to achieve, but the passion, commitment and attitude that they applied throughout the tournament. Out of 4500 primary schools in the North of England, Mossley finished in the top 3 – what a marvellous achievement for a team of 10 – 11 year olds from Congleton. 

A huge thank you to Chandos Homes for sponsoring the kit.