Mini Youth Games Football

Around 400 keen young footballers took part in the Mini Youth Games version of the Champions League.

The big match at Wembley saw Bayern Munich beat German rivals Borussia Dortmund but in the Medway version, Parkwood Junior School, Rainham, representing Spain’s Atletico Madrid, beat St Thomas More Primary, Walderslade, as Chelsea.

In third place were Twydall Juniors, who were Liverpool for the day, with St Augustine’s of Canterbury, Rainham, taking fourth place as Romania’s CFR Cluj.

To echo the real competition, a mini Europa League tournament was held for teams knocked out in the group stages.

The glory in that competition went to Cuxton Juniors, representing Valencia, who beat Wainscott Primary (FC Porto) on a penalty shoot-out.

The Fair Play Trophy was given to Elaine Primary, Strood, who played as Turkish side Fenerbahce.

A random draw was held to pick leading European clubs for the schools to represent, with team T-shirts being provided matching the club colours on the day.

The tournament was the eighth Mini Youth Games event of the season. It was organised by the Medway Sport team and was hosted by Anchorians, Gillingham, who have just been named Charter Standard Community club of the year by the Kent FA.

A team spokesman said: “We would like to thank Anchorians Football Club for hosting and supporting the event. We would also like to thank the young sports leaders from MidKent College for refereeing matches and the Rochester and District Football League for providing some fully qualified match officials on the day.”

• Pictures of every team are in the Medway Messenger today (Friday).