Alford Academy

The Under 15 Boys football team had 2 away cup fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  The first fixture was in the Scottish Shield away to Lossiemouth and Alford ran out 5-2 winners to take them into round 2 of the national cup.  Alford started the game brightly and were playing some good football, but it took until the 20^th minute for the breakthrough.  Thom finished off an excellent team move with a left foot finish after the keeper had blocked the first shot.  It was not long until Alford doubled the lead with a terrific strike from Ethan at the edge of the box on the right-hand side assisted by a defence splitting pass by Mungo.  Alford made it three just before half-time with Aiden scrambling the ball home after the Lossie defence failed to clear the initial corner.

The second half was barely underway when half-time sub Joseph scored an absolute screamer from 25 yards into the top corner with pretty much his first touch of the game! Lossie got a goal back shortly after and were pushing hard to get back into the game until Mungo settled it around the 70-minute mark with another top drawer finish from 25 yards beyond the Lossie keeper to cap off a fine individual performance at the heart of Alford’s midfield.  Lossie scored their second goal of the game with a few minutes left.  A great team performance from all 16 boys involved and a well-deserved victory.

Thursday’s fixture was a little closer to home against Banchory in the Aberdeenshire Cup and went to penalties, with the home side coming out on top.  Alford took an early lead through Ethan’s top corner front post finish from a well-weighted through ball.  Alford were playing into the wind during the first half and struggled to get the ball down and play.  Ewan made a number of great saves before Banchory finally managed to score past him after a scramble in the box.  Banchory went ahead a few minutes later after another scramble and a scooped shot beyond Ewan.

Alford started the second half strongly with the wind behind them and Ethan scored another great goal from the edge of the box, rifling his shot into the top corner after an excellent through ball from Mungo.  Ethan was at the heart of the action 5 minutes later when his run down the right-hand side split the Banchory defence and Ethan fired in a ball to Findlay at the edge of the box whose first time shot flew into the far corner of the net.  Banchory equalised a few minutes later with the match going from end to end and big spaces appearing in the middle of the park.  Alford made it 4-3 from Findlay’s corner as Samuel found himself in space to head home at the front post.  Unfortunately, Alford could not hold onto the lead for long as Banchory broke through the defence to score and take the game to penalties.  Banchory won 4-3 on penalties and we wish them all the best for the next round.  It was a hard-fought game and both sides played some excellent football at times.

The boys put in a tremendous amount of effort playing 2 games within 24 hours and their determination, drive and teamwork was clear for all to see.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them and they should feel very proud of these 2 performances.  We go into the league campaign and Scottish Shield second round in fine fettle.  Well done boys!

On Wednesday we had the privilege of Owen Miller visiting Alford Academy.  Owen won Gold in the men’s T20 1500m category at the Tokyo Paralympics in September 2021.  Owen brought his Gold medal along for pupils to see as well as the MBE he was awarded in June of this year.  Owen spent time chatting with two Prince’s Trust Achieve classes, a Nat 5 PE class and an S3 Study & Organisation class.  The pupils got to see and hold Owen’s gold medal and his MBE as well as ask any questions they had for him.  Thank-you very much to Owen for coming to visit Alford Academy and share his story with some of our pupils.  Hopefully the pupils have been inspired to dream big and follow their passions in life.