Last weekend was a busy one for our football teams, with Year 7, Years 8/9 and Years 10/11 all fielding teams against Hulme Grammar, both home and away.

Year 7 and Year 10/11 teams played Hulme Grammar at home and Years 8/9 played them away.

Match report from Mr Kebell

Our newest players in Year 7 had a fantastic match coming out on top in an end-to-end thriller. An impressive opening by the visitors meant we were quickly 0-2 down, however the team quickly regrouped, and 3 rapid fire Goals from George B, Louis H and Tom N gave us a slender half time lead.

The second half was a brilliant display of attacking football from both teams with Fletcher R extending our advantage to 4-2 before quickly being pegged back to 4-3 by a resilient Oldham Hulme Team.

Fletcher R soon re-established our 2-goal advantage but another impressive strike from the visitors got them back within touching distance. Some great saves from Seb B in the final 10 minutes meant we held onto the lead for an impressive 5-4 victory.

Match report from Mr Cutler

Our Years 8/9 team played a pulsating game of school football, demonstrating all the virtues of teamwork, resilience, and adaptability to the task. In the first half, despite defending en masse at time, two quality goals from Auel H and Charles P-S left the half time score at 2-4.

The College played down the slope second half and dominated missing a bagful of chances to be down 7-5 despite another quality finish from Auel H. Persistence was rewarded as Charles P-S slotted home after outpacing the defence and with the last kick of the game Luca D finally got the goal he deserved.

A special mention to our four Year 8 students who all met the challenge with confidence and conviction.

The final score of 7-7 entertained a large crowd of supporters in a rather sunny Oldham!

Match report from Mr Baglole

Our more senior team that played over the weekend, the Year 10/11 students, played as a 10 a side for this first Saturday fixture of the season.

After a chastening cup loss to Helsby and an unlucky 8-a-side tournament at Kings we were looking to start fast and we were on the score sheet after 7 minutes when a nice through ball by Rafe S was laid off by Louis W for Alex B to slot in after only 7 minutes played.

With some good players fielded by Oldham, a mix up between our centre backs and Jeremy gifted them an equaliser on 16 minutes to draw level, against the run of play. Two minutes later Harry S got in and unleashed a shot which their keeper could only parry into the path of Charlie C, who scored to put us 2-1 up.

Oldham was feeling the pressure of our pressing game and a poor clearance by their keeper gave Ben C a route towards goal. His shot took a slight deflection and found the back of the net for a 3-1 lead on 19 minutes. At 24 minutes, Oldham regrouped and earned a free kick from 25 yards out. Their forward picked the top right corner to send us into the half ahead 3-2.

All four subs came on to start the second half and the aim was to use our fresh legs to really stretch Oldham Hulme which were without any substitutes. After 5 minutes of control and great movement of the ball., Louis W was in on goal when Oldham’s centre back bundled him over for a clear-cut penalty. Our captain, Ben C, stepped up to place it in the bottom left corner for a 4-2 lead and some breathing room.

Another foul where Harry S was kicked inside the 18-yard box gave him a penalty which he had saved by a determined Oldham keeper trying to keep the score close. Our Year 10 players fit in seamlessly and showed their talent all day, but really came together for the goal of the match on 24 minutes. Through sheer hustle, Charlie C beat Oldham’s left back to the goal line and, at full speed, sent a delicious cross into the box for Louis W to one-touch past their keeper for one of the nicest goals I’ve witnessed.

The cherry on the cake came with less than five minutes left as an Oldham midfielder was caught on the ball by Ben C, who spotted the keeper off his line, and scored from 40 yards out to get his hat-trick and finish the contest off as a 6-2 victory.

A big credit is due to our six Year 10s, Louis W, Beau W, Jeremy F , Charlie C, Ollie F and Seb H, who showed up and put in an excellent shift on the day.

Highlights included Henry pulling off a Cruyff turn in midfield to avoid a pressing Oldham winger and seeing our top-scorer from last season, Alex B, get off the mark this season.

The final result of 7-2 should help build us up heading into our Cup match against Blacon HS on October 20^th.

Well done to all the teams for their commitment and sportsmanship throughout.