Thornhill School win Vision for Education Sunderland 5 aside Tournament

On a wet and dreary Wednesday 21^st November, Gareth Gaston from Vision for Education, a North East supply agency, hosted the first annual Vision for Education Sunderland Secondary 5 a side tournament at Goals Sunderland.  The competition saw entries from Southmoor, Kepier, Red House, Washington, Academy 360, Farringdon, Thornhill and Oxclose School.

The format of the tournament was two groups, with the top two going through to compete in a Semi Final and Final and the bottom two competing in the Bowl. Group One saw Southmoor, Kepier, Red House and Washington meet. Southmoor progressed, finishing top of the group on goal difference with Red House also going through to the Semi Final. Group Two was a hotly contested group with two points separating all four teams (Academy 360, Farringdon, Thornhill & Oxclose). At half time in the final game in the group, Thornhill were facing elimination as they were 5-1 down. Mr ‘Jose’ Heelbeck made 3 changes which saw the school make an inspiring comeback to draw 5-5 and go through on goal difference, with Farringdon narrowly missing out. The Thornhill pupils were later heard singing ‘Who needs Mourinho, we’ve got Heelbeckho!’

The Semi Finals of the tournament were very close affairs. In the first game, Thornhill came through 3-2 winners against Southmoor in a pulsating end to end game. The second Semi Final was even closer; a late Oxclose equaliser against Red House saw the game end 2-2 with the game going straight to penalties. In sudden death, Red House went through as the winners to meet Thornhill in the Final; the Red House goalkeeper was in inspiring form. Kepier and Farringdon progressed through to the final of the Bowl and Kepier came through winners in an exciting game with the score 5-3 to the Houghton-Le-Spring team.

Thornhill proved to be too strong for Red House in the Final. With Red House unable to mount much of an attack in the first half, Thornhill went 2-0 up. In the second half, Red House got a foothold on the game and played good football to pull back a goal with four minutes remaining. Whilst Red House poured men forward for an all important equaliser, Thornhill managed to score two goals on the counter attack and won the Final 4-1.

Gareth Gaston from Vision for Education said ‘It was a very successful day with some excellent football on display. All teams played fairly and were a credit to their schools. I would like to thank Total Sports in Sunderland for continuing to supply us with top quality strips for our schools and Goals Sunderland for their hospitality. Congratulations must go to Thornhill School on winning the competition and I look forward to next year to see if they can defend their title.’