A very tough test was on the cards today for our U8 Villa, as they made the trip to Knutsford for the Barclays Gadbrook World Cup. Traditionally, this event has proved to be of a very high standard, so we knew our task was going to be tough. However, we go into every match with high spirits, willing to give our all. Read below for a run down of our games:

1.    St Helens Town Villa (2-3-1) VS Sanbach Eagles:

Jack Richmond; Garry Geoghegan, Jacob Brown; Jack Pennington, Reece Rockish, Liam McGowan; Joseph Dixon 

Substitutes:

Kyle Smith, Lewis Vaughton

Score: 0 - 4

Goalscorers: N/A

Man of the Match: Jacob Brown - So solid at the back against formidible opponents.

2.    St Helens Town Villa (2-3-1) VS Stalybridge Celtic 'A':

Jack Richmond; Garry Geoghegan, Jacob Brown; Kyle Smith, Lewis Vaughton, Joseph Dixon; Liam McGowan  

Substitutes:

Jack Pennington, Reece Rockish

Score: 0 - 4

Goalscorers: N/A

Man of the Match: Jack Richmond - pulled off some wonder saves to keep the opposition at bay.

3.    St Helens Town Villa (2-3-1) VS Kettering Generals:

Jack Richmond; Garry Geoghegan, Jack Pennington; Reece Rockish, Kyle Smith, Liam McGowan; Lewis Vaughton  

Substitutes:

Jacob Brown, Joseph Dixon

Score: 1 - 1

Goalscorers: Kyle Smith

Man of the Match: Kyle Smith - STUNNING free kick to level the game in the last few seconds.

4.    St Helens Town Villa (2-3-1) VS Stockport Junior Blues:

Jack Richmond; Jack Pennington, Jacob Brown; Reece Rockish, Kyle Smith, Joseph Dixon; Lewis Vaughton

Substitutes:

Garry Geoghegan, Liam McGowan 

Score: 0 - 1

Goalscorers: N/A

Man of the Match: A great collective effort made it hard to single anybody out.

Player of the Tournament: Jack Richmond - what more can I say about this lad? He has to be one of the best goalkeepers I've seen at this age, and we're so proud to have him in our team. He produced save after save to deny some top quality teams today.

Unfortunately we failed to progress, but I felt we were a little unlucky in the last 2 matches of the group. The first 2 games were against perhaps the best opposition we've ever faced. Sandbach and Stalybridge were absolutely brilliant, and I'd be surprised if they didn't go a long way in the tournament. As for our last 2 games, I felt we were the slightly better side in both games, and on another day we might have picked up some wins that saw us through. The main thing though was that the boys enjoyed the experience, and I thought they showed excellent character to keep going against very tough opponents.

We can take a lot of positives from these games, and we'll keep working hard. Hopefully we can take some of the lessons we've learned into the tournaments coming up this summer.