Ardingly U15 footballers win Investec Isfa U15 Cup

Ardingly yesterday (Thursday) added another trophy to their cabinet as they were crowned Investec ISFA U15 Cup winners, after beating the strong Manchester Grammar School 3-0 in a pulsating encounter.
The Ardingly team. Picture courtesy www.rwtphotography co ukThe Ardingly team. Picture courtesy www.rwtphotography co uk
The Ardingly team. Picture courtesy www.rwtphotography co uk

Played at Burton Albion FC, Ardingly took an early lead through the prolific Oscar Haynes Brown as he broke through the MGS defence calmly to finish past the opposition goalkeeper. Manchester rallied and, through their high quality striker, threatened to score an equaliser had it not been for the excellent partnership of Matt Penfold, Adam Housby and Alex Hewitt, in defence and goal respectively, keeping them at bay.

The second half saw a more composed Ardingly team, passing the ball with more authority, and after a spectacular goal line clearance from Eddie Lambie from a MGS strike, Oscar Haynes Brown headed a cross in from Toby Cassidy to double the lead. Ardingly again defended resolutely against a strong and fit opposition before Charlie Kelly advanced from 25 yards out, creating a little space for himself with good skills, and finishing a fine solo goal to put the game out of reach.

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Ardingly have now been named the ISFA U18 Six a side winners, ISFA U15 National Cup winners, U15 and U14 Ibstock Place sixes winners, and also look forward to the Sussex U16 County Cup final and Sussex U15 County Cup semi final.

The Academy system that Ardingly have in place has gained much recognition in the national press and Nick Tester, the Head of Boys Sport at Ardingly, said: “The training programmes that we have in place, coupled with the excellent coaches and support staff, have led to this success thus far. Certainly the key part of this is the process that takes place day by day to put the individual’s education first, whilst trying to support them with a high-level football programme. I’d like to think that this is only the start of the journey to creating something unique.”

Ardingly is a school with only around 60 boys per year group, so when asked how this level of success could be achieved against schools with comparatively far bigger numbers, Tester replied: “It is all about setting up the personal training programmes and having the level of control in house where we can look after both the pupils’ training programmes and their education. The beauty is that we are achieving so much because we are such a small school. With huge numbers, that level of care and micro management becomes far more difficult.”

It certainly seems that Ardingly has a most impressive future.

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