A diligent effort from our year 9 football team

 

The year 9 football grand final was held on Tuesday 14th December following lots of delays due to the recent wintry weather.   Hampton Academy and Grey Court had both won their respective leagues to warrant their place in the final which started with both teams vying to get a foothold in the game...   Things started well for Hampton Academy with Harry Chapman putting us 1-0 up with a cool finish. By half time Hampton could have been 3-0 up, but Harry Chapman was denied twice by fantastic saves from the Grey Court keeper. Grey Court came back strongly and only some great defending from our back five of Alex Smithers, Adam Saidi, George Mckillop, Caolan Humphries and Conagh Nee kept the score at 1-0 Hampton.   The second half kicked off with Hampton looking to double their advantage which they soon did. The move started with a great ball down the line from Adam Saidi which was collected By Harry Chapman who shrugged off the attentions of two defenders before slotting home. 2-0 Hampton!   Grey court then began to press hard and within the space of 10 minutes the score was 2-2 due to some neat passing and moving from the opposition. Our goalkeeper Alex Smithers had little chance with both goals, such was the quality of the finishes.   A tense final period ensued with the defence being supported by the midfield and forwards - Zak Mekki, Adam Farrell, Josh Dillon, Max Jackson, Sahal Farhaan, Haris Jaganjac and Karim Mansouri.   Unfortunately Hampton were undone again with minutes to go. Grey Court burst through the centre of our midfield and after some good play the ball ended up nestling in the back of the Hampton net. 3-2.   A frantic scramble followed in the dying minutes with Hampton piling on the pressure. The Grey Court keeper again kept them in the lead with some terrific saves and Alex Smithers kept the score at 3-2 with some great work in the Hampton goal.   As the final whistle blew the disappointment was obvious. However, the Hampton Academy team were gracious in defeat and congratulated their opposition and thanked the referee.   A great performance on the whole - despite the outcome not being in our favour. The team will be back next year as a combined year 10/11 group looking to go one better and secure the trophy for the Hampton cabinet.... Mr S. Crossan, Teacher of P.E.