Our United U13s travelled to Barnstaple Town AFC to take part in the North Devon club’s Summer Festival and came away as Plate winners.
The boys came up against some strong opposition in the group stages and suffered some really tough luck as things just weren’t going their way.
Despite creating multiple chances and enjoying plenty of possession, they were unable to find the back of the net.
Things didn’t look great as Wellington entered the knockout stages, but in their first match they held firm to earn a draw before holding their nerve in a penalty shootout.
Some superb penalties, combined with outstanding saves from the Wellington keeper, secured their place in the next round.
The second match followed a similar pattern, with neither side able to break the deadlock.
Once again, it went to penalties, where clinical finishing from the Wellington boys and some unfortunate misses from their opponents saw them progress to the Plate final.
Wellington faced a South Molton City side who had played some excellent football throughout the tournament and beaten several strong teams on their way.
Riding high on confidence, the Wellington boys produced some great football of their own but again couldn’t find the breakthrough.
They also defended brilliantly, denying their opponents from an edge-of-the-box free-kick just before the final whistle.
The match was decided on penalties for a third successive game.
Thanks to a miss from South Molton City and an outstanding save by the Wellington keeper, the Tangerines only needed to score their first two penalties to seal a 2-1 shootout victory.
The coaching team commented that, against all the odds, the boys pulled together, stayed strong and produced some excellent tournament football when it mattered most to secure the trophy.
Well done to everyone involved.
