Abingdonian 2018

26 The Abingdonian Football Off the back of a highly successful inaugural football tour to Spain, the 2018 football season was another highly successful one for the Football Club. With an ever improving fixture card no games could be taken for granted, in what was an action-packed ten weeks of football. The energy, enthusiasm and commitment shown by all boys (and parents!) was terrific despite the weather’s best attempts to dampen the spirits on occasions with a number of excellent performances including the 2nd XI beating St Edward’s 1st XI, the U15 As 6-1 win over Bedford Modern and the U16 A’s 2-1 win against Haileybury. More importantly however, participation rates were again at their highest and it was great to see all Abingdon sides trying to play the brand of football that we aspire to achieve. After their Michaelmas Term Futsal League, the Lower School sides got their season underway with fixtures against Caldicott, the U12s securing a 2-1 win. The U13 As then made a terrific second half comeback to beat Hampton 3-2. All four sides beat Reading Grammar, with the U13 As also going on to beat the Dragon 3-1. Overall the Lower School amassed 148 goals in 40 games playing an excellent brand of attacking football. There was great excitement around the U14 age group, with all three sides playing an excellent brand of possession based football and progressing noticeably over the term. The U14 Bs put in a terrific performance to beat Aylesbury Grammar 3-1, whilst an almighty effort saw the U14 As draw with Hampton 1-1. The U14 Cs beat Hampton Ds 6-1, before the U14 As and Bs beat Reading Grammar 2-0 and 6-1 respectively. The U14 Bs beat Bedford Modern 3-2, whilst the C team scored 31 goals in their seven games. The U15 As got their season underway with a 7-1 win over Aylesbury Grammar before going on to beat Burford in the first round of the cup 5-1, with James Daly netting four! The Bs secured convincing wins over Reading Grammar and Radley, scoring 39 goals in their eight games during the season, winning four and drawing four. The Cs finished the season on a high with a 2-1 win against St John’s Leatherhead having already got convincing wins over Sherborne and Haileybury. The U15s eventually got knocked out in the third round of the cup to The Oxford Academy in the school’s first entry to this tournament. The U16s made great progress throughout the Lent Term, and after a slightly slow start the 16 As got their season up and running with an outstanding 2-1 win, away at Hampton. Both the As and Bs then went on to beat Reading Grammar before all three U16 sides secured victories over Haileybury. The 16 As enjoyed the experience of playing under the lights at Tilsley Park when securing a 3-1 win over Magdalen College School, playing a very encouraging brand of football.