U11s and U13s in action at BIS Phuket 7 aside!

Over the weekend of the 24th November, our U11 and U13 boys teams travelled to BIS Phuket for the second year in a row to compete in an international football tournament against some of the best schools in South East Asia. With over thirty schools and 500 matches to be played, this was to be a very busy two-day tournament. Given the temperatures of 25-35 degrees, conditions were always going to be tough. The group stage saw a mixture of results: The U11s started in a very positive fashion, beating The British School of Colombo 5-1 with goals from Maximo (3) and James (2). The U13s played against International School of Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, battled hard and were unfortunate to concede at the very end, losing the game 0-1. Two tough games followed in the group phase for the U11s – a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Marlborough College Malaysia and a hard fought draw against Dulwich College, Seoul, with a goal from Maximo again. The U13s found their momentum and despite going two goals down against Harrow Bangkok they came back to draw the match 2-2, thanks to goals from Anson and Aaron. Their third match was against eventual plate winner, Dulwich College, Seoul, to whom they lost 3-0. The final fixture of day one for the U11s was another tough match-up against Harrow Bangkok but despite chances for both teams the final result was 0-0. The U13s came up against local rivals Dulwich College, Suzhou, and took control from the outset, winning 3-0 with goals from Nathan (2) and Anson. Day two saw slightly cooler conditions throughout, and both teams played their last group match before moving on to the knockout stages. The U11s played against hosts and eventual cup winners BIS Phuket A team. It was a very tight match and our boys competed brilliantly, losing narrowly to a breakaway goal, leaving the final score at 0-1. The U13s last match was against BIS Phuket B team and the result was never really in doubt: Wellington finished as 1-0 winners with another goal from Anson. In the knockout stages of the plate the U13s came up against Marlborough College Malaysia and the very close match came down to penalties. Wellington scored first but unfortunately lost 2-1. The U11s were pitted against BISP B teams and ended as comfortable 2-0 winners thanks to an own goal and one from James just before time. The next round for the U11s was against Stonehill International School from India. Another close match saw the deadlock broken by a 20-yard free kick from Maximo to put Wellington into the final. Against local rivals Dulwich Shanghai, Wellington battled hard and with very few chances Dulwich took the lead and Wellington were unable to get back into the match, losing 0-1. Well done to all the boys involved. It was a fantastic weekend of football and all the boys made the College proud. We tried very hard to get some girls teams involved in this year's event – hopefully we’ll have more girls keen to travel next year!   Nick Starbrook Director of Sport Wellington College International Shanghai