Pembrokeshire County Primary Schools Under  11’s squad was one of eight county school sides from the whole of Wales playing in the Tom Yeoman Welsh Schools Football Finals at Leckwith, Cardiff on Saturday 29th April 2017 and came away with a share of the silverware after drawing with Cardiff and the Vale in the final.

The Pembs squad, made up from players across Pembrokeshire Primary Schools, had been playing a series of festivals throughout the season against Afan Nedd, Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Swansea. The side qualified as runners up in the South League One behind Carmarthenshire Schools.

Tough ‘Round Robin’ matches

In the finals they were grouped with Afan Nedd, Flint and RCT Schools whilst the other group consisted of Cardiff and Vale, Carmarthen, Bangor and Denbighshire.

Their first match, playing on a superb 3G surface, was against Flint. The A side lost 1-2 with Toby Price scoring for Pembs but the B side won 2-0 with goals from Luc Owen and Oscar Miles, which gave an aggregated score of 3-2 to Pembs.

The next match was against boys from Afan Nedd Schools.  The A side drew 1-1 with  Morgan Williams scoring. The B side lost 1-2, despite a great goal from Oscar Miles, making it an aggregated score of 3-2 to Afan Nedd.

In the last group game Pembs met RCT.  The A side won 2-0 with goals from Dylan Kidd and Toby Price. The B side played a hard fought game and again drew 1-1 with Max James scoring for Pembs so the aggregated score was 3-1 to Pembs.

Semi-final success – and a hard-fought final

Pembs went through to the semi-finals as group winners and met Bangor Schools, who were runners up in group one. The scores were 5-0 to the A side with Seth Woodhouse and Ethan Hall both scoring two goals each and Dylan Kidd adding a fifth.  The B side drew 1-1 with Dan John scoring a vital goal putting Pembs into the Welsh Schools Finals for the second year running.

Pembs met Cardiff and Vale in the Final. In a hard fought game the A side started off brightly and Dylan Kidd scored to put Pembs 1-0 up. Both sides battled well and Cardiff squeezed in an equaliser just minutes before the final whistle. The B side drew 0-0, creating several goal-scoring opportunities, but just couldn’t finish them off. At full time the aggregated score was 1-1 with Pembs and Cardiff both being crowned joint Welsh School Champions.

Thanks due to players and their great support

The whole squad played some superb football throughout the day against the best opposition in Wales at this level.  They thoroughly deserved their share of the title and were a great credit to their county and schools.

Thanks to all the parents and supporters who cheered the boys on throughout the day and all through the campaign. A special thanks from the players goes to coach Vince Malone who couldn’t make the finals due to a hospital operation.

Thanks to the Welsh Schools FA for arranging such a superb finals event and to the excellent match officials who contributed to the brilliant atmosphere of the day.

A squad: Kyle Rossiter, Jack Nicholas, Evan Rutherford, Harri John, Iori Badham, Morgan Williams, Dylan Kidd, Seth Woodhouse, Taine Brace, Ethan Hall, Toby Price.

B squad: Alfie Barnet, Jack Nicholas, Dylan Duffy, Dan John, Luc Owen, Ieuan Irvine, Oscar Miles, Jey Urddin, Leon Gibson.