Coombe Boys’ School’s Under 15 football team put in a dazzling display to claim national glory after winning the English Schools’ FA PlayStation U15 Open Schools’ Cup.
Staged in a carnival atmosphere at Reading FC’s Madejski Stadium, Coombe Boys’ School got their hands on the trophy after a fantastic 9-0 success against Ribblesdale High School from Clitheroe.
Star of the show was lone striker Liam Millar who got his hands on the matchball after plundering a hat-trick to help repeat last season's U14 Open Schools' Cup success.
Coombe Boys’ opened the scoring after just 61 seconds as Cameron Thompson finished well after some impressive play down the right hand side by Chris Kelly.
Kelly was at his dazzling best again in the 17th minute as his pace and power proved too much for the Ribblesdale defence before laying on an assist for Tyrese Francois to slot under the goalkeeper.
Millar then began his own personal haul in the 35th minute as he beat the goalkeeper with a powerful right-footed strike.
Kelly then rounded off the first half’s goalscoring as he slotted beyond the despairing keeper to get a goal that his performance deserved.
Coombe were not to let up after the break and Millar doubled his tally just two minutes into the second half before completing his hat-trick three minutes later with a first-time finish from close range.
Coombe then grabbed their seventh as Ryan Sessegnon headed in at the far post after an enticing high cross by Thompson, whose first minute opener seemed like a lifetime ago.
Sessegnon grabbed his second in the 56th minute as he raced clear of the defence to drill a left-footed shot into the far corner.
Thompson bookended the scoring with just two minutes to go as his powerful left footed shot proved too much for the goalkeeper.
The final was part of the PlayStation Schools’ Cup Festival, which was the culmination of another season of the exciting grassroots partnership between PlayStation and the ESFA.
Fifteen national football finals from U12-U15 secondary school age groups, featuring both boys’ and girls’ teams, took place across three days at the home of the FA Cup semi-finalists.
Representatives from both PlayStation and the ESFA were on hand to present the trophy and medals to Coombe Boys’ School, who celebrated their success in front of friends, family and fellow pupils.
As well as getting their hands on the trophy, the team had a day to remember as they not only had the opportunity to play on the pitch at a professional stadium, but also have their pre-match team talk in the dressing room.
A total of 19 PlayStation Schools’ Cup competitions have been staged in the 2014/15 season and have involved nearly 2,000 schools and 100,000 participants.
More information about the project is available on playstationschoolscup.com and facebook.com/playstationschoolscup. Or via the PlayStation Schools’ Cup and ESFA Twitter pages - @PSSchoolsCup and @SchoolsFootball.
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