The Year 7 football season is coming to an end and on a glorious Wednesday afternoon it came to a crescendo with a borough cup final against St John’s Prep (SJP). Our journey to the final began with an away fixture against Enfield Grammar all the way back in September. This was the boys first fixture for Latymer, and they won convincingly 4-1. This set them up for a quarter final home draw against Laurel Park. The outcome to which was determined in the first 5 minutes as we raced away to a 3-goal lead and ultimately won 12-0. Semi-final bound, our opponents were confirmed to be Wren Academy, Enfield. This fixture proved to be a defensive masterclass in the pouring rain on a very marshy field away from home. A 1-0 victory was all that was needed to secure our place in the final!

This brings us down to our glorious Wednesday afternoon in the beaming sun at a neutral venue against SJP. We were expecting a very difficult afternoon as we knew that SJP were a school with Arsenal ties with many of their pupils attending their academy but who doesn’t like a David and Goliath story? The match was an open affair with both teams having good chances early on. Our boys were determined to prove that they deserved to be in the final!

Both teams settled into some stability, but we were first to strike. A quick throw on the right-hand side by  Matthew caught SJP off guard which resulted in a cross to the back post where Easton managed to get a toe on the ball and opened up the scoring 1-0. With the momentum on our side, we continued the attack and earned ourselves a penalty as their goalkeeper brought down Ted. The goalkeeper redeemed himself by pulling off a brilliant save to keep the score at 1-0. A small lapse of concentration following an unusual series of footballing events meant that SJP equalised right on the cusp of half-time with a lovely strike (1-1).

The second half began and with a clear plan, defend and counterattack. The plan worked very early on in the half. A cleared ball made its way to Dylan on the left who created a crossing opportunity. SJP failed to clear the ball and Vincent was able to slot in the finish 2-1. This pattern of plan continued with us being more than happy behind the ball, frustrating SJP. We thought momentarily that had scored another goal as Vincent chipped the SJP goalkeeper only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. 

The boys showed real heart and desire and worked all the way to the final whistle to win the trophy! Brilliant performance to all that played. Sam, Maksim, Hugo, Ivan, Raphael, Vincent, Matthew, Ted, Dylan, Easton and Benga! This almost wraps up the football season for Year 7s with the last two games on Monday. Over the course of the year the Year 7s have played 31 matches (18W: 4D: 9L) against over 15 different schools with over 60 pupils representing the school from A to F teams. 

A special thank you goes to Mr Bambury and Mr Jeevagan as without them we could not host training every week and play that many fixtures!