PRIDE OF WIRRAL: The Rock Ferry High School team pictured before the start of the English Schools' FA RAF Under-16 Cup Final. Photo: Paul Scott, celebritypixu
ROCK Ferry High School came oh so close to glory in the RAF English Schools' FA RAF Under-16 National Cup Final in the palatial surrounds of Manchester City's Eastlands Stadium.
The Wirral side dominated the match throughout, raced into a 4-0 lead - but then lost a nine-goal thriller to Torquay Boys' Grammar School, Devon.
"It was bizarre," said Rock Ferry coach Darrell Karisa. "It was one of those matches where if it's not your day then it's not your day - our goalkeeper hardly had a save to make in the second-half and we were well in control - yet they scored three goals!"
Urged on by 700 enthusiastic supporters who had made the short journey to the stadium where Glasgow Rangers will meet Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup Final next Wednesday (May 14), the Rock Ferry lads delivered a sterling performance.
"I am so proud of them all," said Darrell. "It was a fantastic achievement just to reach the national final, putting out a lot of big names along the way, including last year's winners.
"We have some very talented players and I am sure they will go on to do well in the future - it was a wonderful opportunity for them to showcase some of the best youth football talent around."
advertisement
In an exceptional first-half, the talented Wirral youngsters ran amok against their south coast opponents in conditions made tough following heavy rain.
They made the perfect start when Luke Baugh opened the scoring as early as the second minute, followed quickly by Billy Foster's fourth minute strike.
SO CLOSE: A Rock Ferry forward attacks the Torquay goal.
The 2-0 lead was extended in the 14th minute by Ryan Youds in what was becoming a fast-paced game of skill domination. And in the 24th minute, Ross Parry gave Rock Ferry a seemingly unbeatable 4-0 lead.
But three minutes later, Torquay fired a warning shot when Romley Preston-Ellis pulled a goal back. Rock Ferry conceded three more goals in the second-half - in the 46th, 54th and 58th minutes - and suddenly the teams were level.
In a nail-biting climax, Torquay netted the deciding goal in the 79th minute.
Rock Ferry were left rocked - but they still have silverware to win . . .
They defend the Wirral Under-16 Cup when they meet Mosslands School in the final on a date yet to be fixed.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
