The under 12s North and Sun Postal both from the Red Division, in third & fifth place respectively, met in the Challenge Cup Final on Sunday. Previously this season, they had beaten each other 2-1 in the league so a tough, close game was anticipated.

Straight from the kick off, St. Albans applied the pressure and almost scored in the second minute when Elliott Goward hit the post. After only five minutes, right back James Killen unfortunately injured his heel and was replaced by Andrew Harris who went on to have a very good game. The St. Albans pressure continued and in the tenth minute, Nathan Byrne ran at the Sun defence and hit a glorious 25 yarder into the top corner of the net for his first goal of the season to make it 1-0. Five minutes later, the hard working Luke Thatcher doubled the lead when he cut in from the left and hit a low shot into the far corner of the net. Sun tried to get back into the game but were constantly thwarted by defenders Andrew Harris, Jack Ashcroft, Ben Talbot and captain Charles Norman who were all as solid as a rock. Left back Ben Talbot did extremely well to contain the dangerous Sun right winger despite being about a foot shorter than him. Mark Hiller showed great vision with his passing and worked well with Nathan Byrne in the midfield while Luke Campion linked up well with Luke Thatcher in attack. Half-Time 2-0.

Tommy Hunt came on at half time and put in a good solid performance in midfield and then in defence when Jack Ashcroft came off. Toby Irish worked hard on both wings and when he went up front later in the game to replace an injured Luke Thatcher.

The third goal came in the ninth minute of the second half when Elliott Goward received the ball just inside the Sun half of the pitch out on the left wing. He picked up pace and charged towards goal and as the keeper came off his line, unleashed one of his trade mark left foot shots into the far corner of the net from 20 yards. St. Albans were in full flow and could have increased their lead on numerous occasions. Sam Wilson, playing on the right, tormented defenders time and time again with his skills and tricks and nearly got on the score sheet. James Laws went on a solo run and beat four defenders only to see his shot saved by the keeper. Sun Postal pulled a goal back with nine minutes to go with a good strike from ‘Kochy’ but this did not panic St. Albans as they continued to play extremely well right up to the final whistle. Harry Honeywood in goal for the Saints didn’t have a great deal to do although when he was called into action, he did it very well. Final Score 3-1. The whole squad played superbly and thoroughly deserved to win the Challenge Cup. Spare a thought for Harry Fountain who missed out on playing in the final due to a an injury that has kept him out of football since February until next season.