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Villa miss out in close final

20/ 6/2008

CLAYTON Villa under eights entered the Moston Brook football tournament having won five of the six tournaments they had previously played in.

The first game saw Villa at their best, passing well and pressuring their opponents into mistakes.

But Villa then made a mistake which gave their opponents a penalty.

It was the only shot their opponents had, and Villa keeper Alex Bateman saved to release the ball immediately. Ryan Cooney flew down the wing and threaded the ball through to captain Joe Martin who coolly slotted home for a 1-0 win.

The rest of the tournament saw Villa excel. They finished top of their group, unbeaten and without any goals conceded.

A classic semi-final win saw Villa through to their seventh final.

The lightening quick Kwazi Mpofu announced his arrival in the team with a great performance on the left wing, Ben Fletcher controlled the defence with some excellent play, and Chinedu Uche commanded the middle.

But it took a penalty from Ryan Cooney to decide the semi.

The final pitted Villa against Failsworth Rangers.

Failsworth played deep and hit Villa on the break. They looked the more balanced team, but the game could have gone either way.

As it was, the only goal came from Failsworth.