AFC CORSHAM offered up a real feast of football when they hosted their 14th annual six-a-side tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
More than 10,000 people visited the Leafy Lane facilities in Corsham to witness over 2,300 footballers play out nearly 300 games of football.
Teams of both boys and girls from as far and wide as Cardiff, Gloucester, Swindon, Bristol and Frome, joined the many local sides to battle it out for honours in glorious sunshine.
The junior competition, involving under-seven and under-eight teams, was an exhibition of friendly football.
The teams were scored on their sportsmanship rather than the amount times they hit the back of the net in a bid to encourage respect for and from supporters, opponents and officials.
Every team in both age groups scored in excess of 80 per cent sportsmanship scores which meant the highest achievers in these age groups provided near-perfect performances.
The top club in the under-sevens section was Durrington Dymonds while Melksham Park won the sportsmanship stakes in the under-eights.
In the competitive age groups there were many close matches and the knockout stages saw a number of games go to extra-time and even penalty shoot-outs.
The under-nines contest saw Bristol Rovers Supporters Juniors FC run out winners over Shaw & Whitley in the final thanks to a 3-1 win.
In the under-tens Fry Club B from Bristol rounded off a successful weekend with a hard fought 1-0 victory over Bath's Larkhall Athletic.
Team Bath Blue put in some fine displays throughout the day but met their match against Ferndale Rodbourne B from Swindon and went down 0-1 in an excellent U11s final.
The glory and heartache of a penalty shootout was felt in the U12s section where FC Chippenham won 3-2 against Lisvane Panthers.
There was also a girls' tournament in the U12s age group which provided some excellent football for supporters on the sidelines.
A strong Swindon Badgers club contested the final with both of the teams they entered. In the end Swindon Badgers White won the final 2-1.
In the U13s Trowbridge Town A were able to escape the cruelty of a shoot-out by edging to a 2-1 victory over Castle Combe.
But the U14s competition did go right to the wire as Abbeymead Rovers and Sandhurst Rangers could not be separated after extra-time.
It was Sandhurst who held their nerve to take the honours after winning 9-8 in a marathon penalty shoot-out. The final match of the competition saw local rivals Trowbridge Town A and Westbury Youth battle out a fine U15s final.
This match also had to be decided on penalties with Trowbridge Town A edging out Westbury 3-2 victory.
AFC Corsham chairman Rob Wyborn hailed the event as the best in the club's history.
He praised the commitment, skill and sportsmanship shown by all the teams and thanked the volunteers who had helped run the competition.
"There were many close matches with a number of games going to extra-time and penalty shoot-outs," he said.
"This provided evidence that the standard of football at these ages is improving every year.
"Once again the 20 referees who ran these games over the weekend should be congratulated for the way they were able to oversee fair play throughout the weekend, together with the organisers of the tournament which continues to be the showcase for this type of event in our region.
"We are very proud of our tournament which, with thanks to my predecessors, has grown to be a great event and one of the first that is pencilled in to our guests' diaries each year.
"We have plans to improve this event every year and are always pleased to receive constructive criticism from any of our visitors. We are now looking forward to seeing our friends, old and new, next year."
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