THE National League Trust Under 11s Cup returned to Arbour Park last Thursday as 10 schools competed for the opportunity to represent Slough Town Football Club in the regional round in 2020.

The tournament, split into two for girls and boys/mixed teams, was organised by Club Secretary, Kay Lathey, with support from the Slough Town Supporters Trust and E Sargeant and Son funeral directors.

In the 2018 tournament, Lynch Hill and Priory Schools went on to the regional round at Sutton United.

This year saw the return of Claycots, Ryvers, Lynch Hill, Langley Hall, Priory and Godolphin, whilst Marish, Willow, St Anthony’s and Our Lady of Peace made their debuts.

All of the schools entered the boys/mixed tournament while Claycots, Ryvers, Lynch Hill, Priory, Godolphin and Our Lady of Peace entered the girls’ competition.

The tournaments were played in group format and 12-minute games, with two five-team groups for the boys/mixed and a single six-team girls group.

The top two girls teams would advance to the final, with the top side in each of the boys/mixed group reaching the final.

The boys/mixed groups produced 40 goals in the 20 games while the girls group had 42 in 16 games, which was less than last year but there was high quality football, particularly the goalkeeping, on show.

In boys/mixed group one, Ryvers School won all four of their games to move into the final, whilst in group two, Langley Hall took advantage of Priory’s last game defeat to advance to the final on goal difference.

In the girls’ group, it was an afternoon of dominance for Lynch Hill and Priory, who both won four and drew one (against each other) to finish first and second respectively, with eight points between them and third place.

This would mean a repeat of last year’s girls final while Langley Hall took their place for the second year in a row in the boys/mixed finals.

Ryvers, whose mixed team had struggled last year, had shown great improvement not just in entering two teams but also by reaching the final in the boys/mixed section.

In the boys/mixed final, Langley Hall went one better than last year, winning 2-0.

The final between Lynch Hill and Priory proved to be as tight as their group game, finishing 1-1 after 12 minutes.

The game went down to penalties which finished 1-0 to Priory after three spot-kick each, partly in thanks to some good saves.

Congratulations to Priory and Langley Hall, who will represent Slough Town at the regional round next year.

The football club would like to thank all of the students who played in this year’s tournaments, to their teachers for bringing them, and to organisers and sponsors for making this another successful day.

We hope that everyone enjoyed the event and we aim to bring it back again next year.