Ross Juniors U8s celebrated the end of a fantastic debut season with their awards lunch at Ross Sports Centre on Saturday, June 29th.

The team have been together less than a year but have really impressed on the pitch, winning 15 of their 18 league matches and reaching the county cup final. The team qualified for the final after finishing runners-up in the winter futsal competition which saw them win 11 of 14 matches.

Goalkeeper duties were regularly shared between the team, and there were some really impressive displays, in particular Euan in a home draw against Leominster, and Morgan in a draw away to Pegasus Juniors. All the boys rotated outfield positions throughout the season, but Riley, Zak and Owen particularly shone in defence. Leighton proved to be a tough tackler with a thunderbolt of a shot, and Jasper showed impressive dribbling skills.

Every player contributed to their impressive tally of 195 goals with Tyron top scoring with 39, and Alex not far behind with 32. Riley helped himself to 29, and Euan and Owen both grabbed 25 goals apiece.

Zak won the most improved player of the season, and Riley the parents’ player of the season. The players’ player of the season was shared between Tyron and Alex.

Not only has it been a great team effort on the pitch but there’s been a lot of help off it too. Manager, Mike Tompkins, told the Ross Gazette: “I would like to thank James, Gareth and Archie for assisting with training, and Debs for signing in the boys and collecting subs at every session. Thank you also to all the parents and grandparents for your support this season and to Nick Thomas Landscapes for his generous sponsorship of the team.”See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.