Islington Handball Tournament

The Sobell Centre was again the destination for our sporting stars as a team of year 5 boys and girls stepped into new sporting waters with Handball the latest sport for the children to try. With some good preparation in place and an abundance of talent within the side, I was quietly confident of doing well, but what happened exceeded my expectations.

Twelve teams gathered and the format saw us put into Group B. First up were Christ The King Primary and their lack of exposure to the game was evident as we won 11-0 with goals for Frankie, Diago, Amir, Stephane, Han and Archie. Next up were St Mary Magdalene Academy who were blown away by a fantastic display as we won 7-0, with Han, Stephane, Amir and Diago scoring.

St Joan of Arc Primary B were also defeated without too much fuss as we recorded a 7-2 victory. Drayton Park Primary put up a good fight in the first half but we stepped up a gear in the second half as we won 6-2. St Marks Primary were our final opponents and gave us a real good game, and at half time trailing 3-1 we looked beat. However a great fight back ensued with goals from Amir, Stephane and Millie putting us 4-3 up. But there was one final twist as St Marks equalised with the last throw of the game as the game finished 4-4.

With four wins and a draw we topped the group which meant a place in the final against St Joan Of Arc Primary A who had a similar record to us in Group A. A goalless first half saw SJOA take the lead early after the break. But as we all know Ashmount children don’t give up and we soon equalised through captain Han. Amir then put us 2-1 ahead and then with seconds left Han sealed the victory as we won 3-1, and were crowned champions!

Yet again the children have demonstrated with the right preparation and application anything is possible and they proved that. Some of their play was breath-taking, but they also knuckled down to do the hard work when needed.

Every player deserves a huge amount of credit the boys mentioned above were unstoppable at times and our goalkeeper Baran made some crucial saves in the final. The three girls Millie, Jodie and Thora, stuck to their jobs and were brave and ready for the challenge.Well done to the whole squad of players, fantastic achievement and one they should really proud of.

Squad – Han, Archie, Frankie, Baran, Diago, Stephane, Amir, Millie, Thora, Jodie and Thora.