Yesterday saw St. Raphael's Primary School take part in the Regional Finals of The National League Trust U11's Cup, down at the Power League complex in Heaton Mersey, Stockport, aiming for a place in the National Final at Wembley, prior to the National League Play Off Final.

Forty of the sixty eight clubs who are in receipt of a funding grant from The National League Trust, held a local tournament to find a winning school to represent their club in the Regional Finals.

We held our tournament on 16th March at Copley Academy in Stalybridge, which saw St. Raphael's Primary come out on top of the table, winning all their fixtures on the day. A big thank you to our General Manager, Michael Beech and Club Physio, David Pover, for helping out on the day, along with two of our Disability Team players, Sam Jackson and Gavin Dunham.

So, on to the Regional Finals, with the boys in great spirit and enthusiasm for the morning of football ahead. Unfortunately, they came up against what turned out to be both finalists, and missed out on a place in the Semi Finals. The teams results were as follows -

L 0-4 v Stockport County FC

W 3-0 v Altrincham FC

L 0-1 v AFC Telford

L 0-3 v Macclesfield Town FC

So the road to Wembley is over for another year, our congratulations go to AFC Telford who beat Stockport County FC in a close final to reach the showpiece event under the arch in London.

A big thank you to the staff and players from St. Raphael's Primary who gave a good account of themselves, the school and Stalybridge Celtic FC yesterday, playing the game in the right manner and spirit....well done.

Also a thank you to everyone at The National League Trust for running the event and Dave, Matthew & Ethan from Stockport County Community Sports & Education Foundation for hosting the Regional Finals so well.

Looking forward to next years event already!