9.30am 5 November 2022
Independent Schools FA Trophy, First Round
Bury Grammar School 2 St Bede's College 2 aet, 4-3 on penalties (att 11)
I'm unsure if this competition is new or if I've just never spotted it before. The Independent Schools FA's flagship tournament, for school first teams at under 18 level, is the ISFA Cup, but there are also two additional knock outs for lower ranked schools.
Like the ISFA Cup, most Trophy and Shield matches are midweek, but this one caught my attention being very close to home and on a Saturday morning.
The first challenge was finding the pitch, and I wasn't alone among the spectators trying to work out were the action was taking place. It turned out to be at Buckley Wells, a large playing field a short distance from the school itself.
Back in 1998 I saw Bury Grammar School Old Boys, in the Lancashire Amateur League, play at Buckley Wells. They play on the most distant pitch, which is equipped with dugouts. The school team use a different pitch.
The game was a curious one. St Bede's looked much the better side, and twice led, but Bury were resilient, equalising both times and taking the tie to extra time and to penalties.
The home side's resilience was again evident in the shootout. They missed their first two spot kicks, but St Bede's failed to convert what would have been the winning penalty, and Bury came out on top.
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