Oratory Football Festival

On Friday 16th March, the Year 2 boys headed over to the Oratory Prep school for a fun Football Festival Afternoon.

The Manor entered two teams and was placed in two separate pools. The boys relished the opportunity to demonstrate the skills and techniques they have been learning in their games lessons and Football Club and produced some brilliant moments on the pitch. With superb support from the parental contingent on the touch line, both teams made it out of their pool and into the cup and plate quarter finals respectively. 

Manor ‘Whites’ were first up in their quarter final against a strong Oratory side. The Manor was 1-0 down in the opening moments and it took some excellent goalkeeping from Harrison T-M to keep The Oratory out and the score at 1-0 by half-time. Time was running out for The Manor however. In the dying moments of the second half, as the Whites piled on the pressure with Kasper A coming close to scoring, The Oratory scored two late goals to progress into the semi-finals and sent the Manor Whites out with a 3-0 defeat.

There was still hope of some silverware for The Manor however. The Manor ‘Greens’ were up against another Oratory side in the cup quarter-final. Mr Read was brave in his formation and set the Greens up with an attacking approach. The Manor Greens began the first half well with some excellent passing and team work from Noah F-Y, Freddie T, Joshua B and Joe S. The game was in the balance as the half-time whistle rapidly approach. With the final kick of the half, The Oratory went into the lead with a well-timed finish. The Greens had to re-group. Mr Read delivered his finest motivational speech that resembled something similar to a Hollywood sporting blockbuster. It worked! The Greens came out quickly in the first half and began to take the game to the opposition. Close control and fine runs off the ball created many chances for the Greens, but The Oratory’s defence stayed strong. Mr Read rang the substitutions for one final push, but unfortunately, and similarly to the Whites’ outing in the plate quarter final, the Greens were hit on the counter-attack by The Oratory who made the final score line 2-0 and sent the Greens out of the competition. Mr Read and Mr Roberts said ‘both Manor sides were superb this afternoon and demonstrated their footballing talents well. It was great to see the boys work together, support each other and show progress as the festival moved on throughout the day.’

Thank you to all the parents who were able to support the boys on the day. It no doubt had a huge impact on their performance and their confidence grew as the festival progressed. Well done to all the boys who participated and played hard but fair to earn their medals:

Noah F-Y

Kasper A

Israel D

Barney B

Charlie H

Micah K

Joe S

Ned W

Joshua B

Kit M

Henri O

 

Mr Andy Roberts
Head of Boys’ Sport