2007/8 DDSL U-10As' successful summer break in Sheffield

Background
Our 2007/8 DDSL U-10As spent an enjoyable short break in Sheffield during June 2008. Their visit to the Sheffield Wednesday Young Owls reciprocated the Owls' April 2007 visit to Cabinteely. The trip took place on June 21 and 22, just after our own Mini World Cup.

While the weather wasn't great, the lads took part in a four team tournament featuring the Young Owls, Crosspool and Rotherham side Wickersley. Details of these other clubs below. Each team played the others in 'round-robin' format, with two points rather than the usual one being awarded for a score draw. All games, other than the Dads' game (not that anyone told us about that!) were 30 minutes each way based on normal 11 a-side rules (great for getting our lads ready for their U-11 11-a-side season).

Sheffield Wednesday Young Owls FC
SWYO was established in the early 1980s by Steve Woodhead (son of SWFC player Dennis Woodhead) and John Hinde, who is still employed as a manager today, and operates under the umbrella of SWFC's Community Programme. Each year SWYO enters ten teams (U-7 to U-16) into the Sheffield & District Junior League. Most of the teams compete in their ‘A’ division. The club achieved FA Charter Standard in 2005 and works in partnership with the SWFC Academy. Several SWYO players, including Richard Hinds and Steve Haslam, have gone on to represent the Sheffied Wednesday first team and many others have gone on to play at professional and semi-professional level at other local clubs.

Crosspool Juniors FC
CJFC was formed in 1975 and has produced some great teams and players over the years. As an FA Charter Standard Club with teams managed only by qualified coaches, CJFC prides itself in the quality of its football coaching and development. It has sixteen boys' and girls' teams in the Sheffield & District Junior League, many of which regularly win cups and trophies.

Wickersley Youth Junior FC
WYJFC was formed in 1983 and operates with the aim of providing young people enjoyment through football. It has eleven teams, helps around 160 children between the ages of 6 and 18 enjoy the game and has strong links with the local community, with most of its teams having home pitches at local schools. WYJFC is an FA Charter Standard Club with many strong teams on the Sheffield & District Junior League.

The Tournament & After
Cabo was down to play SWYO first, at 10.00am on the Saturday morning (see pics). The Dads' game took place at 12.30pm (we all wonder how the Cabo Dads performed?), with Cabo playing Wickersley at 2.15pm. The final two matches took place on Sunday morning, with Cabo's final one being against Crosspool at 9.45am.

Cabo was undefeated throughout the tournament and, unfortunately for us, SWYO claimed overall victory on goal difference! We drew 2-2 with Sheffield having had two point blank chances at the death to take all points with their 'keeper making life saving saves! We then won the next two with captain Joey McCann scoring a top corner free kick in the last minutes of the final match to win 3-2.

Food and drinks were enjoyed by all in the Ridgeway Village Hall on Saturday evening. Our thanks go to Darren Fairest and SWYO for their great hospitality. See a short account of the tournament on the SWYO website (scroll down to end). We understand that the Sheffield Wednesday match programme for their first home game of the 2008/9 season (against Burnley) contained a page with this content dedicated to the tournament.

The SWYO club is talking about visiting Ireland again during 2009, so perhaps we'll have another opportunity to take them on!


The full squad, complete with manager John McCann.