Pupils at a Mollington primary school are celebrating after winning their way through to national finals.
St Oswald’s Primary School represented Cheshire in the ESFA Small School’s Under 11s Northern England, Regional Finals at Cramlington, Northumberland, last weekend.
The young footballers, who won the Cheshire finals at Crewe last month, faced teams representing Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Merseyside.
The school side finished the tournament as runners-up and ensured their qualification for the ESFA National Finals in May, where they will take on the seven strongest small schools in England.
St Oswald’s drew their first game 0-0 against eventual tournament winners, Newcastle School for Boys, before defeating Finchdale Primary School from County Durham 2-1.
The third game saw the side suffer a 2-1 defeat in a very tight game against St. Bridgid’s RC School, Merseyside, but they responded in style, winning their last two games against North Yorkshire and Cumbria sides to end the competition on 10 points, one point behind the winners Newcastle.
Deputy headteacher and team coach Chris Timms said: “The boys were absolutely outstanding and rose to the occasion playing some of the best football I have seen them play. “They showed true fighting spirit to come through and we are all immensely proud of their achievement. “We look forward to the National Finals in Birmingham in May.”