Premier League Under 16's Open Schools Cup Final

It was the final of the Premier League Under 16's Open School Cup Final last week. Hosted at the Manchester City Complex.

If you haven't been to the Man City complex, you should - It's impressive. The facilities are incredible with the main stadium being only one part of it. There are smaller stadiums around the complex for events such as this final. This on top of the Ladies team stadium and retail outlets, it's always very busy.

Well this final had an emotional connection to my family. The final was between Ravens Wood School (Kent) and Reddish Vale High School (Stockport). The connection - My Mum's old school - Reddish Vale. Not only that but my Mum's PE Teacher, is still the Team Manager - Mr Andrew Moores - or Moose as he is called. Bearing in mind that my Mum is now 52, it was anounced at the match that this would be Moose's last match, as he is retiring this year. How apt that he is going out on such a high.

Well again, I couldnt get away from work to get to the match, but Mum and Grandad did and there were already around 100 people there. The match was being filmed and shown live on ESFA TV, which was fantastic - expecially for those fans that hadn't been able to travel. Mum managed to have a chat with some of the staff and also got contact details for me to get onto the Referee team for future matches, which was Mum doing her usual Networking.

Anyway the supporters excitement was loud, the teams came out to music and cheers. Parents looked on proud as punch. The match got under way. Initially Ravens Wood controlled the match. Around 10 minutes in there was a sudden tsunami of school children, The Valers had arrived, loud and on a mission - the coaches from Reddish Vale school had been delayed, but as always with the Valers they make themselves known - it was obviously really handy for Reddish Vale that it is only around 5 miles away from Manchester City's ground.

Whether this made the difference I don't know, but suddenly Reddish Vale's game went into overdrive. They scored, and never looked back, the skills of both side were commendable, with a couple of the players really standing out. The game was a great game and worthy of a final, and being televised.

Ravens Wood 0   Reddish Vale 1

It was an amazing finalle to Moose's Reddish Vale sports career. Reddish Vale has a history of producing great footballers, My Mum and Grandad enjoyed the match, it was as enjoyable (if not more so) than any professional match