On Friday 24th March, Hazelbank Primary School took part in the Ballymena ‘Junior Cup’, at the Ballymena showgrounds. The 10-man squad made up of a mixture of P6 and P7’s equipped themselves well for their first ever outing as a team.
Donning their red jerseys, the boys got off to a nervous start against a strong St. Mary's team. However, with resolute defending, we earned our first point of the day, with a goalless draw. The challenges kept coming as we were penned in against an attacking Groggan team, who took the lead and we unfortunately couldn’t find the equaliser.
With the boys now getting used to the size of the pitch and conditions, we grew in confidence and started to attack more. In our third match against Harryville, having nearly all the possession, and a steady stream of shots, we finally found the goal with a rocket shot from our defender Thomas, earning us the 3 points. The next two games we continued attacking and our energetic midfield kept battling. Our goalkeeper (and captain) Seth, pulled off a few wonder saves to keep us in contention. However, struggling to convert chances into goals, we earned two more draws (and two more points) against Dunclug and Carnaghts.
Going into the last game, we knew we had a chance to go through if we won. The boys rallied together and motivated one another. The final game saw us dominate once again, with attacker CJ finding the net with a well-placed shot. With the rain pelting and legs tiring, we persevered to see out another victory. As the final whistle blew, the team were celebrating and showing real camaraderie.
9 points saw us finishing in 3rd place in our group, behind Groggan and St. Marys. An absolutely fantastic effort from the boys, as they hadn’t played a competitive game together before. Thanks to our sheer determination, we only conceded 1 goal in 6 games. The boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves and should be very proud of their efforts.
Thanks to the parents for coming along to show support and cheer the team on, a memorable day I am sure!
Thanks to Miss Heron and Mr. Calderwood for training the boys and managing on the day.
