Onchan won the annual Douglas and District Primary Schools Football Tournament – sponsored by Isle of Man Bank - in brilliant sunshine at The Bowl, defeating Fairfield in a very close final.

Onchan and Fairfield had proved themselves the two strongest teams on view winning their respective groups without losing a match – Onchan dropping only one point in six games while Fairfield won all five of their matches.  They were joined in the semi-finals by Ballacottier and Anagh Coar, both of whom had finished second in their sections on goal difference, just edging out Laxey and last year’s winners Cronk-y-Berry.

The semi-finals saw Onchan putting four goals past Anagh Coar without reply while Fairfield also kept a clean sheet in beating Ballacottier 2-0.

Onchan raced into a two-goal lead in the final and seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory before Fairfield pulled a goal back near the end which resulted in one or two anxious moments in the Onchan goalmouth before the final whistle blew.  Ballacottier defeated Anagh Coar 5-0 in the play-off for third and fourth positions.

Tournament organiser, Jo Richardson, thanked everyone who had helped make the day such a success and referred to the continued involvement of Isle of Man Bank which had sponsored the event since its inception 17 years previously.  She introduced Shaun Gritton, manager of the Bank’s Port Erin branch who presented medals to the finalists and the tournament shield to the winning Onchan team.

Onchan’s squad consisted of Luke Phair, Syd Batty, Lewis Bridson, Charlie Yau, Tommasz Boruch, Joseph Barker, Tyler Dycher, Ethan Leivers and Aaron Babb.  A total of 13 teams took part in the tournament which was played, for the first time, on the new all-weather pitch at The Bowl.

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