This week we hosted our first ever trust wide football competition between all our schools. The competition was hosted at Etone College and utilised the outstanding facilities and Football Academy provision to implement a very competitive and fun filled event. The day consisted of high quality and competitive football from Year 8 pupils from each of our schools. Our pupils showcased sportsmanship of the highest quality and their passion for football shone through as pupils enjoyed playing and meeting people from across the trust.
It was evident as soon as the group stages started, the games were going to be decided with a bit of magic, an error, or the dreaded penalties. The group stages ended Bloxwich Academy, Dame Elizabeth Cadbury, Etone College and Turves Green Boys’ School progressed to the semi-final stage.
The 7th and 8th placed playoff was a competitive affair which saw the Etone B team victorious over Wednesfield Academy on penalties. The 5th and 6th placed game saw Barr Beacon win the game 1-0. In the semi-finals there was very little difference between the four schools in what was a very competitive high-quality game and again the dreaded penalty shoot-out came into force, Etone College and Bloxwich Academy progressed to the final and Turves Green and Dame Elizabeth went into the third and fourth playoff game
The 3rd and 4th playoff game was a very exciting game that saw both teams miss chances and played some free-flowing exciting football, unfortunately both keepers were to remain unbeaten, and Dame Elizabeth took the third place on penalties. The final consisted of Bloxwich Academy and Etone College in which was anyone’s to win after the two teams had played out a 0-0 draw earlier in the day. Etone started quickly and scored an absolute thunderbolt into the top corner to make it 1-0, Bloxwich to their credit competed fiercely and played some fantastic football and deserved their equaliser to make it 1-1. With both teams going for the win Etone caught Bloxwich on the break to open them up and scored 3 late goals to take the game and the title 4-1.
A huge well done to all pupils and staff involved and a big thankyou to all those that contributed to the event. We are looking forward to getting the next event booked into the calendar to see where the shield will end up next year.
Mr Webb said: "Smestow take part in their first Matrix Football Competition and the YR8 students did themselves proud. Considering it was their first football tournament as a group, they applied themselves really well during the games along with throughout the whole day. The group stages commenced just before midday with a game against Wednesfield which was a bit rushed at times with both teams getting used to the format of the competition and the tricky surface, it took some time for them to find touches. A close encounter finished in a 0-0 draw which gave the foundations of a great start to the group stages for Smestow, Joshua-James was player of the match for this one with some fantastic 1v1 defending and covering around for other players protecting our goal. The second game of the groups saw us come up against the hosts and the eventual winners of the tournament, E-tone. The team showed fantastic fight and teamwork during this 14 minutes to really hold their own and work together, you could tell that they were growing with confidence as the minutes tick by and really started to play some fantastic football. We managed to defend fantastically and threaten their goal at the same time but due to the short times of the games, it was another 0-0 draw for Smestow. Massive positives to take from the game going into our last group game as we hadn’t lost again and were still in a chance of qualifying for the semi finals. Hedon received player of the match for this game with a fantastic defensive display, getting his head, foot anything he could on the ball to stop it going near our goal. The final group game came up against a Bloxwich side who had already won in the groups so we knew it was going to be a tough game but out students were really up for it and wanted to show what they could do. They saved their best performance of the afternoon for the final group game and were the dominant team at the start of the game creating chance after chance for our forward players and it just would not go in. However, our players did not stop trying and their work rate along with willingness to try and score was fantastic! Smestow still had more of the play throughout the game and was threatening the Bloxwich goal continuously with corners, crosses and shots but it was just one of those games were it would not go in despite all of our efforts. The game ran out of time and we ended the group stages unbeaten but with another 0-0 meaning that due to 1 goal we hadn’t finished high enough in the groups to go through to the semi finals. Player of the match for this game was Rodrique with some fantastic flare going forwards, showing some real skill and guile to create chances for his teammates.
Our tournament wasn’t over just yet as we came up against Barr Beacon in the 5th/6th place play off game which was another really close contest. The team really battled their way through the game, with a few feeling it in their legs and having the resilience to keep going to give the team the best possible chance of finishing 5th in the tournament. We once again created lots of chances but were just lacking that last little bit to get the ball into the net and grab the win. Barr Beacon scored really late on against the run of play to take the game late on and take the victory. Our team were gutted as they had put all of their efforts into it but just came up short, we still lost with dignity which was brilliant to see as everyone represented Smestow outstandingly all the way through the day.
Agreed by Mr Webb and all players, player of the tournament was Joshua-James. A consistent performance in every game, showing real quality and composure in defence. He gave his all in every single game and showed fantastic attitude, work rate and quality in everything he did.
All players should be very proud of their performances, first competition as a squad and only conceding 1 goal in 4 games is a great achievement. Well done to all!"
