Year 11 Football boys crowned Hull Cup Champions!
The Sirius Academy Year 11 Football team secured a memorable Hull Schools Cup Final victory last night to claim the trophy for the 1st time ever as a school team. The who have enjoyed success throughout their time at the Academy could still go onto more as they now represent Hull against the East Riding Cup champions, Wolfreton, in the Humberside Cup semi-final with the winners playing the champions of the South Bank competition.
The match started with Sirius attacking into a strong wind with the sun in their eyes. In an excellent start, the team controlled possession well with Will Murphy working hard up top, and the defence of Jordan Wardell, Robbie Hird, Jordan Littlefair, Brandon Leigh and Lochlan Fitzgerald snuffed out any threats from the Winifred Holtby attack. 10 minutes in and it was captain Luke Salas, who as he has done on countless occasions in a Sirius shirt, tricked his way through the defence and squared the ball to Murphy who calmly tucked the ball away for 1-0. Joseph Wood and Luke Collingwood continued to work tirelessly down the flanks with Callum Magee showing willingness to close opponents down in the middle. When called upon Kieran Bartlett produced two excellent save, one tipping a free-kick over his cross-bar. Salas had a 1-1 opportunity but was denied by an excellent save and the 1st half finished 1-0.
On came Ewan Malton who continued the high work-rate, using his speed and the wind behind him to beat his man on several occasions. Holtby fought back and a poor 10 minutes from Sirius looked like costing us the match as we conceded two goals to trail 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining. Magee was moved wide out and his pace began to cause issues for the Holtby defence, with Wood having two efforts saved. Fitzgerald, Littlefair and Hird continued to thwart any counter-attacks before Wood combined with Salas to play the captain through who fired low across the keeper to level up at 2-2 with 3 minutes left. The time ran out, as did 15 minutes of extra-time so the dreaded penalties were left to decide the winners.
Bartlett put Sirius on the front foot with a smart stop to his left before Salas, Wood, Collingwood and Magee all impressively converted. Bartlett stepped up again to pull off another save and Sirius were crowned Champions after a 4-3 penalties victory!
Special thanks to Martin Smith for his assistance coaching the team and to Janice Hall for driving and support and Cosi Basile for support.
Please congratulate the following boys on their success, attitude and behaviour:
Kieran Bartlett, Jordan Wardell, Robbie Hird, Jordan Littlefair, Luke Collingwood, Brandon Leigh, Loch Fitzgerald, Joseph Wood, Callum Magee, Lukas Salas, Will Murphy, Harrison Shearsmith, Ewan Malton, Olly Russell, Charlie Jackson, Connah Oliver, Tom Greenham.
