In dazzling sunshine, St Peter’s won the girls’ half of the annual Mayor’s Cup – the biggest borough primary school football tournament in the capital – thanks to a remarkable goal machine called Eliza Groves.
Having fired the Hammersmith school into the final with a couple of confident strikes, she repeated the feat in the last game of the day and was engulfed by jubilant teammates at the final whistle.
Team coach Jake Webb bellowed his girls to glory as they finished unbeaten on finals day. Having seen off last year’s winners, St Stephen’s, 2-1 in the semi-final, the St Peter’s girls, in dark blue, met Larmenier & Sacred Heart, who had defeated Fulham Bilingual by a single goal in their semi. Larmenier wore yellow.
With Eliza leading the line, St Peter’s used long throw-ins to excellent effect, causing mayhem in the Larmenier box. “We’ve been working on those throw-ins,” admitted coach Webb as the ball found Eliza in space on the far post to slot home the first goal.
A second followed to clinch the title just seconds before ref Cormack Harris blew the final whistle, but St Peter’s were also grateful to the goalkeeping skills of Dolly, who kept a clean sheet with several crucial saves.
Both boys’ and girls’ events proved boisterous, exuberant occasions, with the Shooting Starz all-weather football pitches in Acton playing host to a well-organised two-day tournament for years 5 and 6.
Penalties hold the key
A total of 28 H&F primary school teams contested the boys’ tournament on Wednesday this week, with all six pitches at Shooting Starz in use. Only the briefest of showers passed through, but otherwise it was uninterrupted wall-to-wall football from 9.30am to 3pm.
West London advanced to the semi-final against St Stephen’s. It was goalless in normal time (12 minutes, seven-a-side), but West London inched their way to the final on penalties.
In the other boys’ semi, Good Shepherd beat Larmenier 1-0.
It was impossible to separate the finalists in normal time, with a close-fought encounter finishing 1-1. Even the sudden-death penalty shoot-out was thrilling, but West London eventually shaded it 8-7 to lift the trophy.
Having finished the early stages with a +23 goal difference, the consensus was that it had been a deserved victory.
Adding to the fun was a score app, allowing spectators to follow all the results in real time, no matter where they were on the ground.
The strangest incident, which briefly stopped play on all six pitches to allow everyone to gawp, was when a millionaire’s helicopter landed alongside the action!
Luke is a past winner
“It’s just so great to be able to support the borough by hosting this event,” said Luke Craig of Shooting Starz, which supplied pitches, balls and referees. “A lot of the young players know us already as they come here for holiday camps.”
Luke is one of just a handful of junior football coaches who can claim a Mayor’s Cup winner’s medal from his own primary school days.
Many of the refs were sixth-formers from local secondary schools, getting useful work experience.
The girls’ event on Thursday was contested by 27 schools (with a ‘School X’ added to balance the numbers!).
Eye-catching early scorelines included a remarkable 10-0 win for West London Free School over Sulivan primary before St Peter’s swept to eventual victory as screams and squeals of glee rang out across the artificial turf.
St Peter’s only let in two goals throughout the day, and the squad serenaded their coach with a hearty rendition of ‘It’s coming home, it’s coming home’ at the end.
In response, Webb promised to buy each girl an ice cream to go with the individual statuettes they were given.
One amusing side to the girls’ competition was that several teams were cock-a-hoop to have just reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, because it gave them bragging rights over the boys from their own school, who had fallen short the day before!
Adoni is a safe pair of hands
Shooting Starz coach Adoni Sanka, 18, was one of the team who helped organise and run this year’s Mayor’s Cup... and he revealed he had a special affection for the tournament.
“It’s true; I won it back in 2017,” he admitted. Adoni, a QPR fan who lives in East Acton, was the goalkeeper for the victorious St Stephen’s boys’ team that year, when the competition was staged in Hurlingham Park.
“I do remember keeping a clean sheet in the final,” he said, adding that he still keeps up with most of that year’s winning team.
Adoni will be glued to the telly on Sunday night for the Euros final as he finds Jordan Pickford’s goalkeeping skills an inspiration.
41 years, and counting
This was the 41st year of the Mayor’s Cup tournament, the longest-established competition of its kind in London. Part of the aim of the tournament is to encourage more participation in sport… especially in girls’ football which is enjoying a surge in popularity.
For information on Shooting Starz summer courses (including a ‘free school meals’ camp for those who struggle to afford coaching events), head to the Shooting Starz website here.
The schools taking part were:
All Saints, Ark Conway, Ark White City, Brackenbury, Earls Court, Flora Gardens, Fulham Bilingual, Fulham Primary, Good Shepherd, Greenside, Holy Cross, Langford, Larmenier & Sacred Heart, Melcombe, Miles Coverdale, Normand Croft, Old Oak, Queen’s Manor, Sir John Lillie, Sulivan, St Augustine’s, St John XXlll, St John’s, St Peter’s, St Stephen’s, St Thomas, Wendell Park and West London Free.
