On Wednesday the 20th of July I took a group of ten footballers, accompanied by parents who's support is always greatly appreciated, to the Year 6 North Devon Boys Finals at Park School in Barnstaple. 

This is a tournament that our Year 6 side qualified for by winning a tournament in Torrington back in February. As our Year Sixes were busy having a fantastic time on Dartmoor, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to test our younger players against some of the best schools in the area. 

The tournament was 7 aside, 12 minute matches, our young team consisted of seven players from Year 4, some of which are still eight years old, and three players from Year Five. 

The boys played some fantastic football and displayed some really intricate and clever passing, the pace on the wings was impressive and some excellent displays of skill were shown. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to win matches and our players were physically not at the level of the other teams and couldn't get the results in matches we deserved. 

I was hugely impressed with the attitude of the players, they didn't let up when goals went in and tried their absolute best despite the results not going their way. In terms of commitment the players couldn't be faulted, throwing themselves in the way of some hard shots and very big players to try and get the ball and block the goal.

Our final match was a success, a win of 3-1, which could've been more if not for the crossbar and the post, which allowed us to finish 5th overall in the Tournament. 

I am incredibly proud of how the team performed, at the start of the school year none of these players had represented the school in a football match before and at the end of the year they are playing against some of the oldest and best in North Devon, two school years above them and holding their own. 

I am incredibly excited to see how good this team will become over the next couple of years.