Over 120 youngsters enjoy tournament in Turriff

On Monday 19th May AFC Community Trust in partnership with the Scottish FA hosted the Bank of Scotland North Regional Finals at Turriff United’s ground the Haughs. There were over 120 players taking part on the day travelling from as far as Angus and Alness to play in the tournament making it the biggest North Region finals to date.

The format for the day was two 5-a-side sections with 20 junior teams from first and second year and a senior section with 8 teams from 3rd-5th year pupils taking part. This resulted in over 50 fixtures being played across four pitches which were Referee’d and supervised by Bank of Scotland staff who volunteered their help on the day.

Both sections were extremely close but in the end the Angus region came out on top in the junior section final defeating Turriff A on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Two Aberdeen Teams contested the senior Final with Rugrats from Harlaw Academy just edging out Ivory Toast from Northfield Academy 1-0.

Patryk Maciazek team Captain of “The Rugrats” said:

“Winning the Midnight League Regional final, was a very enjoyable experience for myself and my team mates, as was the rest of the tournament. It was a very special occasion as we got to win a football trophy together, just as a bunch of friends. The Midnight League was always fairly important to us all as we always looked forward to playing on the Saturday night and to come out at the end with a trophy and something to show for our efforts is very pleasing. The coaches, Police Scotland, Strikers Football and other organisers certainly deserve a big thank you from The Rugrats as we enjoyed our two years participating in the Midnight League, and we’d like to thank them for giving us this opportunity.”

Senior Bank of Scotland staff and Russell Latapy rounded off the event by presenting the winners and runner medals as well as the player of the tournament awards which went to Joseph Bisset in the junior section and Kieran Robertson in the senior group.

Scottish FA Community Coach Scott Duncan said “The finals day was a great way to round off another successful year of the Midnight league programme and it was fantastic to see so many players taking part from all over the North Region. The games were all very competitive and played in the right spirit which was a credit to the participants. Special thanks must go to Bank of Scotland for their continued support, the volunteers who helped run the event and Turriff United who kindly allowed us to use their pitch and first class facilities on the day.”