1,000 young players beat the heat

OVER 1000 visitors from Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Suffolk converged on Knebworth for the annual mini-football tournament on Sunday.

There was some breath-taking football on display, and the watching scouts from a few London clubs could only have been impressed by the standard of football. Several games went through to extra-time and the dreaded penalty shoot-out to remind us of the nail-biting events in Gelsenkirchen just 24 hours earlier.

Although football was the winner, special mention must be made to the successful teams that battled through some tough qualifying and knockout games to reach the finals.

In the under-seven age group, Wheathampstead Wanderers kept up a fine summer of success with yet another title and gained many admirers along the way. The under-eight section was just as tough, but eventually Fairlands Youth and Bedwell Rangers played out a nail-biting finale that ended in the narrowest of victories for the Bedwell team - who scored with only seconds remaining in extra-time.

The biggest event was the under-nine age group, with 16 teams competing for the title. After coming through a nail-biting semi-final penalty shoot-out against an unfortunate but impressive Stevenage Borough Blues team, it was Knebworth Youth Cougars that contested the final against an impressive Buckhurst Hill (Essex) team, who came with a fine reputation after topping the Echo Premier League this season.

Knebworth went close with two golden opportunities in the first five minutes, but it was Buckhurst Hill that found the winning goal in the second half and they thoroughly deserved to take home the cup.

This was two out of two cup finals in just a few weeks for the Knebworth Youth boys and they can justifiably be proud of their performances and their achievements this season.