Raglan Football Team - Gladbeck Competition
Posted ~ Friday 16 July 2010
With spirits high the Raglan Boys’ Football squad created history in late June, as they became our first school party to travel abroad to participate in the Mayor’s Cup 2010 in Gladbeck, Germany.
Leaving Southbury Leisure centre with a squad from rivals Oakthorpe, the tone for the trip was set early as both groups mingled and sang together, much to their delight but the dismay of the various chaperones who were present and the coach driver.
Arriving a whole hour before check-in began and over three and a half hours before the flight was scheduled to take off, we made camp in Gatwick’s charming North Terminal.
After trouble-free flight, baggage reclaim and coach journey we arrived in Gladbeck at 6:30pm local time, just as dinner was served. Unfortunately the gourmet meal that was promised failed to materialize, and the staple diet of the next few days of cheese and salami was introduced. The squad also witnessed first hand Mr Palmer’s ‘healthy’ appetite – well there must be some excuse for doing all of that sport!
So after settling in to our luxurious accommodation, we decided to head out and release some energy by having a few quiet games of football on some nearby pitches. On our way back to our base, we spotted the Mayor himself and were invited in to have a chat with him and some more food. Once the squad saw that there was a stage they showed Galdbeck how to party, with a synchronized dance routine that they had seemingly created that very day. After 15 minutes they departed the stage, having wooed the audience and impressed both Mr Hitchens and Mr Palmer with their moves.
The next morning was when the fun really began, as we headed to the Town Hall to meet all the other children from all over Europe who had been invited to the Mayor’s Cup. After a quick photo shoot in the sun we headed to a nearby fun-park, with swimming pools, tennis courts and football pitches. It was the perfect way to spend they day as the sun blazed high in the cloudless sky, with both Enfield teams relaxing and having a great time.
Once the energy levels dipped we headed home and had a brief practice session and discussed various tactics that we might use and that we might face, and how we could overcome them. Full of excitement the boys got their heads down early, in preparation for the big day ahead of them.
We arrived at the stadium before 8am, and once again the weather was excellent. The anticipation slowly began to rise as more and more people turned up and the stands slowly began to fill with a crowd with a buzz of excitement.
With the first group games for both teams not being played for a couple of hours, the boys demonstrated their skills on different obstacle courses and activities that were specifically designed to test their football ability; striking a ball at a net with alternate feet and measuring the speed; target practice for accuracy; and a dibbling course for speed. Points were awarded all and a running total was kept to keep the players on their toes!
Once the games started it was non-stop action. Mr Palmer’s consisted of Charlie (Captain), Bradley, Kasey, Kaspar and Nathaniel and David. The team romped through their group, scoring a staggering 19 goals in 4 games, and conceding only 2. With the games lasting 10 minutes with no half time, this was an incredible feat, they were hot favourites already!
Mr Hitchens’ team consisted of 6 of the other regulars from training; Baboo, Elijah, Scott, Reece, Jeremiah and Jonathan. They went into the tournament not having played together before and, with the no goalkeeper rule, Reece as an outfield player!
They got off to a fine start with an easy win against a team from Germany and then continued this run of form for the next four games, winning all of them and playing some lovely attacking football. The final group game saw them against some tougher opposition, and despite dominating possession for most of the game, the other team somehow managed to score a goal and take the victory.
This impressive run of results for both teams meant the knockout stages beckoned. Mr Hitchens’ team had a quarterfinal game against an Austrian team. Unfortunately, this is where their impressive tournament came to an end. In a very physical game, Raglan faced some dubious refereeing decisions and were beaten. The team should, however, be very proud of themselves for some fine performances and great determination throughout.
Mr Palmer’s team faced the other team representing Enfield, Oakthorpe, who had beaten them back in England on two occasions. This was the only game in the entire tournament that Raglan failed to score in, as Oakthorpe defended deep with one player on the line, which was proving to be a popular tactic. With the match all square at 0-0, it went to penalties and Raglan were triumphant, with Bradley and Kasey both scoring.
The semi-finals saw Raglan face an Austrian team, and with the scores level at 1-1 Raglan were propelled into the final through a most unlikely goalscorer, as Nathaniel got his first goals of the day to make the final score 3-1.
Unfortunately in the opening moments of the Final Raglan lost Charlie and Kasey to injuries. Facing a team who were considerably older and without any substitutes, Raglan lost 5-1, but it was a fantastic effort and they won plenty of admirers for their style of play and character.
So we headed home with a trophy and numerous memories of an exciting few days on Tour, congratulations to the entire squad who showed tremendous attitude and represented Raglan Junior School in the best way possible. Well done lads.