Having played and convincingly won our 4 friendly matches during late June and throughout July, Andy took his Under 9s team to the Hoyland Common Falcons Tournament on 27th July.

Although there was a very strong line-up of 13 teams, of which all but 2 were from within the Sheffield and District League, the lads were in confident mood, and the day started well with Josh Deakin scoring the winner in our first group match in a 1-0 victory against one of the 2 host teams, Hoyland Common Falcons A.

This was followed up by a thumping 6-0 win over Danum, in which Deven Galloway scored 4 times, with 'a trialist' and Joe Finch also on the scoresheet.

The third group game finished goalless against eventual finalists Brampton Rovers A, and the final 2 group games quickly followed, where another Deven Galloway goal secured a 1-0 victory against Dinnington Town A and a first defeat in the competition for the Rec, losing 2-1 against an excellent Thorncliffe A team, with Harrison Jones equalising immediately after conceding their first goal of the tournament.

All this meant that 3 teams finished on 10 points, with the Rec progressing in second place on goal difference.

The team continued into the Semi-Final against Thorncliffe B, who had won their group. Both teams had failed to score after the regulation 10 minutes, which saw the game enter a 5 minute extra time period, with a golden goal scenario.

The match entered the last minute of golden goal extra time when the ball fell to Josh Deakin outside the area, who struck the ball with his left foot over and across the Thorncliffe ‘keeper, flying into the far top right hand corner to win it with a golden goal, sparking fantastic and wonderfully emotional celebrations.

As in the group game against Brampton Rovers A, the teams could not be separated in this final, and with no goals at full time, a golden goal couldn't be achieved this time, so it came down to penalties. In Kian Bond, the Rec Under 9s have a fantastic young goalkeeper, and this was his time.

Having been a spectator for most of the tournament, he stepped up in the final making a couple of great saves when called upon in normal time, and he then starred in the penalty shootout.

Harrison Jones, Jack Huxley and Nathan Shone all scored from the spot for the Rec and Kian really was the hero in the end, brilliantly saving 2 of Brampton’s penalties! The Rec won 3-2 on penalties, and the celebrations followed!