Warren Primary 1-6 Buttsbury Junior, Tuesday 2nd May 2017, Kick-Off 4:15pm, Shenfield High School, Essex County Schools FA Parish Under 11s Cup Final.
Buttsbury Junior’s Under 11s have laid foundations for the school’s future success after winning county silverware, with Coach Debbie Marshall declaring: “This inspires all the little children, the year threes and fours, and they all want to be like the year six team so we’ve got squads coming up for the next three years… definitely.”
The Billericay school lifted Essex’s Parish Under 11s Cup at Shenfield School on their 3G pitch following a comfortable victory over Warren Primary from Chafford Hundred thanks to goals from Charlie Coffill (2), Stephen Toussaint, Travis Jacobs (2) and Finlay Gray. Charlie Williams replied for Warren but Debbie was delighted her team maintained the excellent record their school has in local, regional and national competitions.
She explained: “I’ve had this squad since they were seven or eight years old in year three and I’ve seen them all the way through now to year six. I’m really happy they’ve got some silverware in the trophy cabinet. This has been one of our better successes since we won the nationals in 2015 so I’m really pleased for the boys, who’ve dug in and worked really hard.”
Buttsbury took charge of the final as early as the 4th minute, Coffill striking home a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble. Warren replied by hitting the near post direct from a corner, with the ball then rolling agonisingly along the goal line. Then, a few minutes later, a 19th-minute Buttsbury free kick whacked the crossbar and forced the goalkeeper to catch under pressure. However, they’d go one better with five minutes of the first half left.
Toussaint strolled between defenders then slammed home to double their advantage, giving Debbie the opportunity to relay a positive half time team talk. She recalled: “I reminded them how wide the pitch was and the fact they needed to tire the other players out because the one thing we have got is fitness and stamina. We train regularly. I also reminded them that they promised me five goals in the final – so I got that plus a bonus!”
They added to their first half tally on 33 minutes when Coffill was left in space at the far post on the left-hand side and he made no mistake in powerfully finding the near top corner with his finish. Five minutes later Jacobs converted number four courtesy of a free kick which crept in off the woodwork then it was Gray’s turn to get in on the act in the 45th minute, stabbing in a bouncing ball from a yard following a Buttsbury corner.
With eleven minutes left it was Warren’s turn to get on the score sheet as Williams’ own free kick found its way inside the far post for a consolation, though Jacobs completed the scoring after a further two minutes. He received a pass inside and was free to guide his effort past the Warren custodian. Debbie was naturally overjoyed at full time.
“This team, compared to others in previous seasons, hasn’t necessarily had the most skilful players, but they play as one team and dig in hard,” she summarised. “They play for each other, so I was very confident they wouldn’t let me down in the final. We have a very close relationship with their secondary schools, so we’ll be feeding on all the progress they’ve made with us.”
Warren Primary: Max Spence, Lucas Barnett, Quentin Adeniran, Charlie Williams, Alfie Day, Jaxon Brown, Zak Khalique, Frankie Theobald, Ken-Joel Nwalene, Aled Jones, Maddox Brown, Michael Famuboni.
Buttsbury Junior: Liam McCormack, Nathan Harle, Finlay Gray, Thomas Humphreys, Seth Pearson, Isaac Martin, Lindo Khumalo, Teddy Hoffman, Stephen Toussaint, Charlie Coffill, Jamie Lefteri, Travis Jacobs.
Bookings: None.
Referee: Charlie Roberts (Romford).
Assistant Referees: Robert Bentley (Chafford Hundred) and Drew Johnston (Dunmow).
