Our football team has just returned from their Barcelona adventure. They have performed incredibly and have been a credit to themselves, the school and their families.
To summarise the trip:
We landed in Barcelona last Thursday, ahead of the World Schools Football Cup at the weekend. The first day was spent looking at the history of football in Barcelona in advance of the opening ceremony and media interviews that evening.
The boys were drawn in what turned out to be an incredibly tough group!
The tournament started with an emphatic 6-2 win against Tarragona from Spain; Sam Davison grabbed the first goal in the World Schools Cup so his name is now in the history books! As was man of the match James Simpson who earned the first star of the match award.
The boys suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Hermitage Academy First team from Scotland. The boys dominated but couldn’t get the ball over the line in a physical hard-fought match. Cameron Hardy took home the star player award in an incredible performance.
Hexham finished the group very strong with an emphatic 7-1 win against Safa school from Dubai. Taylor Milton grabbed a hat trick, Max G, Alex M and Ollie F all grabbed goals before Aidan S scored from way out into the top corner. Despite this performance, HMS missed out on plate qualification by 1 point!
HMS entered into their Tier Tournament on the final day of competition looking to show their attacking football! The boys have made some great connections with new friends from around the world but their closest friends came all the way from Makini School in Kenya! The Kenyan team were who awaited in the semi finals.
James Craig showed yet more goal-keeping heroics to keep a clean sheet and goals from Max G and Alex M sent HMS into the final of the Tier. Ben B was on a role this game and some of his tackles were text book perfect! Sam Davison also picked up a man of the match award to add to his impressive tournament!
In the final the boys were drawn against EIS School from Marbella. A stand-out performance from a dominant James S helped Max G and Alex M grab 2 goals each to give HMS a 4-0 half time lead. Ollie F scored a brilliant chip to make it 5 and a final score of 5-1. Taylor M walked out with a man of the match award in the final game!
HMS finished strongly and ended up being the second highest scoring team across all age groups over the tournament! They became the entertainers with Max, Ollie and Alex grabbing 5 goals each!
The trip has been an incredible cultural experience for the boys who have made great memories throughout! Whether that be learning about the history of Barcelona football, playing beach volleyball, basketball mini golf and table tennis and playing in the inaugural World Schools Cup!
Mr Barry
