Droitwich Spa Under 11s returned to Worcestershire Tournament action for the first time in 2014 with a squad of 12. There were five teams entered in February including Droitwich, Old Halesonians; Kingsheath Pickwick; Knowle School and Bromsgrove.

First game was against Old Halesonians which ended in a 0-0 draw. At the start Spa looked as though they were half a sleep as they allowed Old Hales to get a strong foothold in the game pushing Spa back who kept conceding possession. As the new look team began to gel; right and left backs began to assert themselves in defence tackling hard, which allowed midfielders more time to set Fernando and Hugo away on a couple of counterattacks. Old Hales kept pushing high to break the deadlock but Matt Spa keeper had nothing to save.

Spa second game was against Kings Heath Pickwick which was a far more entertaining. Droitwich were strong in defence and first to the ball and from the way they played you could see the work that coaches Nick Bates and Peter Prenderville had been putting in. Midfield knitted together the patterns of play allowing the attack to use the space created and duly allowed Matthew to opening the scoring and score their first Worcestershire Tournament goal in 2014. After this, Spa kept pressing missing several guilt edged opportunities and not shooting early enough in the circle. Despite their domination Spa were caught with a last minute sucker punch which meant the final score was 1-1.

Spa third game on the spin was against old rivals Bromsgrove which are always difficult combative games. Spa started briskly clearly buoyed by their previous game. Spa moved the ball around even more confidently, pleasing the coaches and the spectators watching on. Doitwich domination was rewarded with a well taken goal by John, and the team were unlucky not to add to their tally leaving the final score 1-0.

Spa had a rest for their next game and their last game of this series was against a strong Knowle School side. Droitwich kept on using their substitutions that were available keeping the players fresh, allowing to play a quick but strong game. From the off Spa looked to be on the front foot using the right flanks well and taking quick free hits and hits in to create opportunities. Knowles keeper was in great form meeting the crosses and shots with strong kicks; and these clearances allowed the younger skilful individuals to hit Spa on the break. But Droitwich defence held firm with excellent defence; and stopping penalty corners at the top of the D with no shots coming in goal. An excellent 0-0 draw.

This was the first time that Under 11s had gone through a Worcestershire Tournament unbeaten with a record of 1 win and 3 draws and only conceding 2 goals with two shutouts. The team improved game on game and could see the confidence increasing with the all the players, including the debutants.
The next tournament is on March 2nd 2014 from 10am, so why not pop along and see the team in action on Sunday morning and support the team.