Pembrokeshire County Primary Schools under 11’s squad were one of eight county school sides from the whole of Wales playing in the recent Tom Yeoman Welsh Schools Football Finals at Ystrad Mynach and finished in a hugely creditable runners-up spot against the other top sides in Wales.
 
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 and Carmarthen and qualified as runners up in the South League One behind a strong Afan Nedd team.
 

Tough group for round-robin matches

 
In the finals they were grouped with Swansea, Newport and Wrexham Schools whilst the other group consisted of Flint, Afan Nedd, Cardiff and Vale and Caerphilly.
 
Their first match, playing on a superb 3G surface, was against Swansea, where the A side drew 0-0 while the B side also drew 1-1, with Leo Glascoe scoring for Pembs.
 
The next match was against boys from Wrexham Schools and the A side won 2-1 with goals by Liam Topp and Macs Page. The B side drew 0-0 again making it an aggregated score of 2-1 to Pembs.
 
In the last group game Pembs met Newport and the A side won 5-0 with Macs Page scoring a hat-trick and Liam Topp and Oscar Miles adding another each. The B side played a hard fought game and again drew 0-0 so the aggregated score was 5-0 to Pembs.
 

Semi-final battle with Caerphilly Schools

 
Pembs went through to the semi-finals as group winners and met Caerphilly Schools. This was a very exciting affair, with the lead changing hands several times throughout. The final scores were 3-0 to the A side with Macs Page scoring the third and vital goal seconds before the final whistle, adding to his opening goal. Henry Thomas scored the second with a fantastic header from a corner. Despite fantastic defending by Jacob Owen and Toby Davies Caerphilly B won 2-0 but Pembs went through to the final 3-2 on aggregate.
 

Just edged out in final by Swansea Schools

 
Pembs met Swansea in the final. In a hard fought game the A side drew 0-0 whilst the B side came up against a very strong Swansea side that showed clinical finishing. Swansea went 2-0 ahead at half time and despite all efforts by the Pembs boys Swansea were better on the day; winning 4-0 so congratulations to them.
 
 The whole squad played some superb football throughout the day against the best opposition in Wales at this level.  They thoroughly deserved their final place and were a great credit to their county and schools.

Pembrokeshire School A: Evan Watts (Glan Cleddau); Tyler Sutton (Neyland); Henry Thomas (Mary Immaculate); Liam Topp (Golden Grove); Macs Page (Bro Ingli); Oscar Miles (Tenby Juniors); Kyle Kenniford (Golden Grove); Noah Davidson (Lamphey) Iori Badham (Tenby Juniors); Harrison Goddard (Roch). Team Manager: Angela Nicholls.

Pembrokeshire Schools B: Taylor Hornsby (Golden Grove); George Waters (Sageston); Leo Glascoe (Tenby Juniors); Mark Jones (Pembroke Dock); Jacob Owen (Hook); Daniel James (Pembroke Dock); Joshua Silk (Mary Immaculate); Lewis Miller (Hook); Harry Fuller (Templeton). Team Manager: Bernard Steer.
 

Special thanks

 
Thanks to all the parents and supporters who cheered the boys on throughout the day.  Please spare a thought for the boys who played in all the previous rounds to get the squad in the final, but were unavailable for selection due to a club tour.
Thanks to the Welsh Schools FA for arranging such a superb finals event and to the excellent match officials adding to the brilliant atmosphere of the day.