The U10s played some excellent football over two days at the RT Tours NW Trophy tournament in Southport.
They showed real grit and determination against skilful and sometimes physical opponents. And they played to win, which is something that has not always been a part of their game in the past.
One or two players, in particular, showed real improvement in their attitude and they all clearly enjoyed mixing it with the scousers (god love them….)
One Liverpudlian spectator even said to me during our game against Birkdale on the second day that it was ‘better than watching the boxing!’
I was also impressed by our girls’ ‘team spirit’. They worked for each other, all took their turn in goal and as sub without complaining – well, not much anyway 🙂 and I am sure they have all benefited from this team building experience.
For the record, we played six and won three. We beat every team in our age group and came second overall to Burnley Girls.
The presentations on Sunday were dramatic and professional. The girls went on stage to receive their trophies from Paul Merson (who?) and they looked justifiably proud of themselves.
Away from the football the girls were entertained by some very funny guys in fancy dress costumes and the camp streakers on Saturday night. We all played football in the rain until it got dark, played silly games in the ‘chaletts’ and generally had a good time.
I’d like to thank Shaun for his excellent cooking, Chris for providing me with the opportunity to see the inside of the Birkenhead Tunnel (twice), all the Culpins for letting me have their spare room on Saturday (it wasn’t their fault that the bed was made of iron) and Ian and Debbie for a great barbecue on Sunday.
And my sincere thanks to everyone for being such great company :-))