On a chilly evening at St Georges Park, Rossall School and Buckswood School that featured Kaej Stovell, Hayden Dill, and Brighton Morrison battled it out to become the ISFA Under 16 Shield National Champions.
The game started at a high paced tempo, with both sides creating chances early on. Possession ebbed and flowed between each team, but neither were able to capitalize to gain the opening goal. The game then started to settle down a bit with both teams finding their way into the fixture. There was some good play in the middle of the park by the Rossall who were able to build on this, eventually creating enough pressure to score the opening goal of the game. This spurred the Rossall team on and before too much longer they were able to double their lead going into the half time break.
Both teams came back out after half time with the same intensity in which the game started. However this time it was Buckswood who struck first, scoring their opening goal 5 minutes into the second half. Much like the first half, goals came within quick succession, and 5 minutes later Buckswood doubled their tally and equalized the game with 30 minutes to go. Buckswood continued to pile on the pressure and looked like scoring again, but the Rossall defensive line stood strong and held their line and continued to show a resolute performance. With 10 minutes to go the game switched with Rossall now taking the upper hand in possession and chances, trying for the winner in the remaining minutes of the game, but some last ditch defending and tackles saw the game end in normal time as a draw, meaning extra time would need to be played.
The high tempo of the game continued into the extra time period with both sides showing great grit and determination with some strong challenges and great attacking opportunities. A through ball from the Buckswood midfield left the striker one on one with the Rossall goalkeeper, who came out to make the save, but the Buckswood striker calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net, giving them the lead for the first time in the fixture. Rossall never game up, but the momentum was very much with Buckswood at this point, with the final few seconds of the game to go, Buckswood made sure of their victory by securing a fourth goal of the game, seeing them crowned ISFA U16 Shield National Champions in a great spectacle of a game.
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