Thornford Primary School’s Year 6 football team celebrates reaching the finals of a national competition

YOUNG footballers from Thornford Primary School are celebrating after reaching the national finals of the Pokemon Primary Schools Cup.

The team of Year 6 pupils started their journey to the King Power Stadium by topping the North Dorset Small Schools tournament in January and qualifying for the next stage to represent Dorset in the South-West regionals.

It was the second year running the school had reached this stage and the team then finished top of their group to reach the semi-final, which they went on to win on penalties.
They narrowly lost a very close final but as one of the top teams from the South-West still made it through to the national finals.

Teacher Sarah Gibbs said: “The boys were incredibly excited about the trip to Leicester and the commitment from the parents was incredible.

“The pupils travelled up the night before, with one family even flying back from their holiday early so their son wouldn’t miss the match!”

The team faced tough competition as one of the last eight teams from across the country but were delighted to finish a respectable fifth place on the day.

Some 5,000 schools entered the Small School Cup competition at the start of the year.
Sarah added: “The day will be something the boys remember forever. They worked so hard together as a team throughout the season and put everything into training sessions and games in some pretty horrible weather.

“The bond they have as a team is exceptional and they have all developed into enthusiastic, skilled, young sportsmen.”

Jerry Ridout has coached on a volunteer basis at the school for eight years – his youngest son left last year but Jerry agreed to stay on in his role.