After the very successful 2023/24 season, the 1st XI Football team were still eager to better themselves this year. Our first challenge was the customary match against the ON’s. This season saw new partnerships across the side, so this match was important to establish strong connections on and off the field. The boys came away with a convincing 3-0 victory, surprising the ON’s who were confident they would leave victorious. After this promising start, matches came thick and fast as a week later we faced an unfamiliar Perse side keen to grow stronger as a team. The boys were dominant from the start and put pressure on the opposition, with a strong partnership forming between Ethan Buskell and Benjamin Griffiths up top. Our dominance showed in the resulting scoreline, as a 4-1 victory displayed both our attacking and defensive security. With no time to train between matches, we turned to a crucial Tuesday fixture against Stamford in the ISFA Boodles Cup, the pinnacle of schoolboy football. We faced a defensively secure opponent, which paired with an unforgiving surface, formed a very tough challenge to overcome. However, our quality began to shine through near the end of the first half, with a composed finish from Jonathan Udeh putting us 1-0 up at half time. The second half brought chances for both sides, as both defences remained strong and resulted in a goal-less 40 minutes, putting us through to the second round of the fabled competition.

Our local rivals Gresham’s were up next, but confidence flowed throughout the side that a victory was in sight. Our consistent attacking threat showed in this game, bringing a settled 3-0 victory and yet another prideful clean sheet for the side. Wymondham were next up, who have always been a challenging team to beat, with us only winning one in the last 16 years against them. However, this didn’t faze us as we gained back-to-back victories and a confident 3-0 scoreline once more.

Our journey in the Boodles Cup continued against Haileybury, a side widely regarded as one of the competition’s strongest. Despite a valiant effort, the boys fell 4-1. While the loss ended our cup aspirations, the team left the field with heads held high, knowing they had competed fiercely against top-tier opposition. With the loss only bringing us closer as a team, we turned our attention to staying unbeaten for the rest of the season. Langley were our next opponent, a side with a strong football programme and who are always tough to beat. The boys made sure that the loss to Haileybury didn’t affect them and played some excellent football against a valiant side. Strong defensive displays from

our centre backs Noah Rastrick and Tom Robson neutralised Langley’s threat up top from their young Norwich academy prospect, epitomising such a successful defensive display for the team. Our attacking display wasn’t much different, as the game resulted in a 3-0 victory and a brace from Theo Demetriou.

The half term break didn’t affect us as Culford were next in the fixture list. A sharp start put us 1-0 up within 10 minutes and we showed no sign of slowing down. The Culford side were getting aggravated as our attack remained clinical and gave us a dominant 6-0 victory, with an impressive brace from Billy Faircloth. Felsted school followed who started strong but couldn’t break down the tightly organised 442 structure. As the game started to stretch our attacking creativity flowed, which was too much for the Felsted side bringing a 6-1 victory for the boys. After a year break from playing RHS, the boys were unsure of their ability in our penultimate game of the season. However, we knew our ability and travelled to Ipswich full of confidence and put on a tremendous display of football. Shoutouts must go to our promising midfield pair of U5 talents Louie Baker and Arnav Prabhu, with Magnus Valpied also keeping a commanding clean sheet in an 11-0 victory on his debut in the starting lineup. Then came the final game of the season, at home vs Woodbridge School. The boys were determined to finish the season in a strong fashion, and having not known much about the opposition, a strong display was needed. Early attacking prowess from us pinned the opposition back for the opening 10 minutes, with balls getting into dangerous areas but not finding the back of the net. However, after an impressive solo goal from Noah Rastrick we got the opener. From this point we had all the momentum and possession not letting Woodbridge get comfortable, and slotted goal after goal with a clinical attacking display. The match finished as an 8-1 victory to us, with the season ending on a high when Jonathan Udeh scored a chip from the halfway line, securing his brace and tying with Benjamin Griffiths as top scorer on 8 goals each.

Overall, this season has been a joy to be a part of winning 100% of our regular season’s fixtures, keeping an unbeaten streak in these fixtures since November 2022. Huge thanks must go out to Mr Wylie, Mr Ashton, and most importantly Mr Cole, who have invested lots of time and effort into us this season. It’s also great to see the expansion of the football programme this year with the 5-a-side matches on Wednesday lunchtimes and yoga on Monday mornings enhancing different areas of our game and contributing to such excellent performances throughout the season. Finally, congratulations must go to all the U6 members of the squad this year; Fraser Evans, Joel Fox, Charlie Parsons, Tom Robson, Noah Rastrick, Joel Field, Jonathan Udeh, Theo Demetriou, Ralf Braybrook, and Lawry Williams, for their contributions, especially to those who have been through the programme over the last three years.

Joel Field 1st XI Captain U6C