Lingfield reach ISFA National Finals!

On Friday 16^th September 2022, our Colts A team competed in the Kent & Sussex ISFA Regional Football 7-a-side Tournament at Ardingly. This tournament consisted of 16 teams from independent schools across the local region.  

In the group stages we won all 3 of our matches, beating Lancing College 1-0, Saint Ronan’s 2-0 and Copthorne Prep 1-0. These great results ensured we finished top of the group and gave ourselves a slightly easier draw in the last 16.  

Royal Russell were our opponents in the first round of the knockout stages and the boys kept their unbeaten start to the tournament, with a 1-0 win. In the quarter-finals we faced Yardley Court and the boys put in their best performance of the day to secure a comfortable 3-0 victory.   

With confidence running high, we played against earlier group opponents Copthorne Prep. In a tight encounter with few chances, it was no surprise to see the game finish 0-0. Neither team could find the crucial goal during extra time, so a place in the final and a trip to the Nationals would be decided by penalties. Our boys confidently scored all of our penalties to win 3-1.

In the final we faced fellow unbeaten side New Beacon. After taking an early lead in the first minute, we conceded our first goals of the tournament to trail 1-2 at half-time. Although we tried extremely hard to get back into the game in the second half, the match finished 1-4.  

Mr Kempson said, "I am extremely proud of the boys' efforts and the whole squad tried exceptionally hard throughout the day. The boys can now look forward to the National Tournament and a trip to St George’s Park, England’s National Football Centre, on Tuesday 2^nd May. We will then be competing against the best of all Independent schools from around the country. "

Very well done to Seb, Hux, Oscar, Bear, Ethan, Alex, Bradley and George.