Hitchin Town Youth Football Club
An FA Charter Standard Development Club
SOCCER SEVENS "A RESOUNDING SUCCESS"
Tuesday, May 12 2009
Hitchin Town Youth Chairman John Morrell hailed the inaugural Soccer Sevens tournament as "a resounding success" after a weekend festival of football at Top Field.
"The sun shone, we saw some fantastic football, and players and spectators had a great time. Roll on next year", he added.
33 teams, over 300 players and hundreds of spectators gathered in glorious weather to enjoy four exciting tournaments and Hitchin Town Youth rose to the occasion, claiming three out of the four trophies.
A striking feature of all events was how all four winners laboured through the group stages, before gaining momentum as the tournament went on and early front-runners faded.
In the U8s, the Hitchin Hurricanes won only 1 of their first 3 games, before stringing together 3 wins to reach the final, where they met Elsenham. In a tense final, Hitchin took the lead before Elsenham equalised, just before half time. The Hurricanes regained the lead just after the break and held on to secure a second tournament success in their two-year history.
Under 8's Result Grid - download here
In the U9s, Hitchin Greens drew 4 out of 4 in the group stages to squeeze into the knockout stages. There, they beat Potters Bar 4-1, scored 2 goals in the last 2 minutes to pip the Arrowheads 3-2 in the semis and then beat favourites Royston A 1-0 in the final with a second-half strike.
Under 9's Result Grid - Download Here
The U10s event was an all FC Comets affair as the Hitchin-based clubs’ Kaisers and Chiefs reached the final, the Kaisers prevailing 2-1 after extra-time.
Under 10's Result Grid - Download Here
The third Hitchin Town winner of the weekend was the Hitchin Bullets in the U11s tournament. With only 6 participants, the Bullets finished 4th from 6th in the round-robin group stage. But, after pipping Hitchin Tigers II 4-3 after extra-time in one of the games of the tournament, they deservedly beat the Comets with two second-half goals.
Under 11's Result Grid - Download Here
Visiting spectators praised the running of the event. The decision to allow finalists to use the dressing rooms and be led onto the pitch by the referee in a Champions League-style presentation was particularly appreciated.
Hitchin Town YFC would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for helping to make the event such a success.
• Hitchin Town Football Club, for the use of Top Field and all its facilities
• St John’s Ambulance
• Allied Bakeries, for supplying the bread rolls
• All of our sponsors for their continuing support
• The team of referees, for giving their time and working so tirelessly and efficiently.
o Peter Parkins
o Chris Lawrie
o Scott Crowhurst
o Darren White
o John Want
o Kevin Trever
o John Robertson
o Andy Knight aka Muttley