Two youth teams from Pinchbeck United reached the semi-finals of the Wisbech St Mary tournament over the weekend.
Both the under-16 boys and the under-14 girls came within a whisker of reaching their respective finals, having put in a string of impressive performances to reach the last four.
Two under-16 boys teams were entered into what were both difficult group stages loaded with top teams from the local counties.
Both performed well, with some great performances from Jack Watson, Dan Taylor and Sam Bracegirdle but, without a recognised keeper, Pinchbeck Predators found it hard and could not progress through.
Pinchbeck Pumas performed better, winning three of their group matches with goals from Ben Mansour and Nicky Haw and progressing to meet Ramsey in the semi-finals.
It proved to be a close game, with few chances for either side until Ramsey scored to go 1-0 up. Undeterred, every Pinchbeck player stepped up and worked together to create an attack that led to a fine first-time finish from Haw to level the scores late on.
That forced a penalty shoot-out, which Pinchbeck lost 3-2.
Meanwhile, the under-14 girls showed how far they have come since forming only two seasons ago.
Playing in an under-15 tournament for experience, the girls not only gave a good account of themselves but played some outstanding football to finish third out of seven teams.
Pinchbeck won their first two games 2-0 with goals from Courtney Walker and Annie Vayro. They then lost 1-0 to Cambridge City White (winners of their league this season), but hit back to win their next game 3-1 with goals from Walker (2) and Freya Peters.
Another loss, followed by a win against Cambridge City Black, saw Pinchbeck finish third and secured a semi-final place against Blofield.
But the eventual winners were too strong and beat the outstanding South Holland girls 3-0.
Pinchbeck are looking for sponsors for both teams next season. Anybody interested should contact Mike Bracegirdle on 07803 076490.
