Codsall schoolchildren get a taste of Premier League success

Codsall’s youngsters have also enjoyed title lifts of the Molineux Mixed Cup and the Staffordshire under-11 County Cup, having missed out on the Primary Stars trophy, losing to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals.

The Staffordshire boys’ team won every game in their group, scoring 10 goals across their four games before losing to Tottenham 3-1 in the knockout round.

Wolves’ girls’ team went out in the group stages, but PE teacher Alex Tatton was full of praise for both sides: “Proud of their performances, they played really well.

“In the national final, the girls struggled a little bit with the competition, but overall they all did really well.

“The boys won four group games and went to the semi-final and played a Tottenham team that had got four Spurs players in it, and they eventually went on to win the competition as well. So, as I say, lost to a very good team in the end.”

Top players from both groups featured in the Mixed Molineux Cup, where the defeated St Johns 4-0 in the final, beating Rakegate, Warstones, St Michaels, Woden and Blanford on the way, not conceding a single goal.

Tatton, coaching alongside Tom Mills, said: “What was quite nice with the Molineux Cup was that it was a mixed competition. So, you got the boys and girls playing together. That was really nice.”

To cap off the successes, the boys’ team then went on to edge out opponents Oldfields 4-3 in the County Cup, having beaten Walton Priory and Five Ways 2-1 in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.

The captain across all three tournaments, Isaac Olomoliaye, finished top-scorer, year five pupil Freddy Thomas was playing a year above his age group and Lucas Ellis scored a hat-trick in the end-to-end County Cup final.

Tatton added: “In the final they were winning 1-0, then they were pulled back to 1-1. So, they were at no point losing that final. We were always winning or drawing. Proper resilience.”