Hastings Tournament
12.05.23 - 14.05.23

The weekend started off extremely well on Friday night with our our u16’s lifting the trophy. 

A busy day Saturday, saw our u9, 10, 11, 12 and 13’s competing in extremely tough groups.

The sun was beaming, as the u9’s and u10’s kicked off a jam packed morning.

Both sides had a great start to the group, both winning their first 3 games.

The u10’s lost their penultimate game, meaning a win of 6 goals was needed to get through, with the hope Hastings u10’s only won by a margin of 5.

In unbelievable circumstances, the boys pulled off a 6-0 win in their final game but it wasn’t to be as in even crazier circumstances, Hastings also won 6-0 meaning the boys missed out on progressing by a goal difference of 1!

The under 9’s however, continued their good run coming 2nd in the group after suffering a draw, putting them into the semi finals.

This saw the boys unfortunately bow out of the tournament but nevertheless, an unbelievable performance from the young boys.

The afternoon saw our U11’s and U12’s competing in again, extremely tough groups.

The U11’s had a good start winning a comfortable 4-0, but this wasn’t to continue for further games with the boys failing to score, even after creating endless chances, which saw the us just miss out on progressing into the semi finals.

The U12’s however had an unbelievable run, not conceding a single goal and winning every game putting them top of the group. They followed suit in the semi final winning 1-0 and still holding onto the clean sheet.

However, an extremely harsh and dubious decision into extra time of the final, saw the referee give a penalty for handball which should never have been the case. Penalty saved, however the rebound bounced in and the whistle went and we bowed out of the tournament.

A great afternoon for the U12’s nevertheless. 100% the performance of the day from these dedicated boys.

The u13’s finished the afternoon’s trilogy as they played their groups in the evening. Team 1 started well picking up points in their first 3 games. Team 2 couldn’t catch a break and the ball just wouldn’t go in for them.

A fairly frustrating afternoon for both sides though meant the lads couldn’t go through. There was some joy amongst the camp as in our last game, team 2 managed to score their first goal, beating local rivals, Rusthall.

The boys stayed smiling which is what football is all about!

Sunday morning saw the last of our teams play.

The U8’s competed in possibly the toughest group possible, playing against several other academy sides, picking up 4 wins and 1 loss.

It was amazing to see how complimentary the opposition parents/fans were of the football the young lads played and the goals they scored, and had it been a competitive competition, most teams and the referees tipped us to be favourites to win it.

A great weekend all round full of goals, sunshine and smiles.

Thank you Hastings United for having us! A fabulous weekend of football . On to the next…

#EMC #EMCFAMILY #NEXTGEN #TOURNOSEASON