
Robins U12s kicked off their summer tournament season in great style today, winning the prestigious Wootton Bassett 6-a-side tournament in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.

With several new recruits to integrate into the team, the main objective today was to gel as a team, to express ourselves on the pitch and obviously to have some fun. We certainly met those targets - all 8 of our players were outstanding in every game, not only did we gel as a team but everyone battled for each other from the start to the finish of the tournament and we played some really attractive football along the way.

We played five games in the group stage, and topped the group, winning four and drawing one game against a side who finished 3rd in Div 1 last season. A special mention to stand-in keeper Harry Thomas for a stunning penalty save to secure the win in the second game, just one of many brilliant saves today in a heroic peformance. And the whole team for a magnificent fightback from 1-0 down to win 2-1 against Castle Coombe who were so strong in the League last season - no mean feat in 8 mins!
So as group winners, we progressed to the quarter final where we met a confident Shaw side. Both teams battled hard and could not be split. The match finished 0-0 after extra time. Two superb penalties and two great saves from Harry T saw us in to the semi final.
After shaking hands and commiserating with Abbeymead followed by a couple of verses of "CHAMPIONES" we were presented with our trophies. Manager Mark Martin commented "An absolutely brilliant performance from EVERY member of the team all of whom were on top form. A special mention to Harry Thomas who stood in as goalkeeper today and played an absolute blinder. Well done to everyone today. Pete and I were extremely proud of all of you."
A small gallery of photos from the day is in our U12s photos section here.