They were straight in at the deep end against a well-drilled and
talented Blue Hornets A side but recovered from some early goals to create a number of attacking opportunities and were unlucky not to score more than once.

They were far stronger than OL's B's but did not use any width in
attack and struggled to find enough space to shoot. Finally they
broke the deadlock with about 5 minutes to spare with Jonah
Winfield-Gummer bypassing the goalkeeper with sublime skills. The boys looked likely to add a few more to the tally but sadly the game
finished 1-0.

They hit their stride again against Blue Hornets B's and Charlie Britt broke through on a number of occasions to set up overloads on their goalkeeper, scoring twice. Hamza was on hand again, powering home a beautiful pass to make it 3-0.

The purple train got off to a flyer against Upminster and an early
goal from Zak Sheikh put Crostyx in the lead. A well-timed cross to
the left for Zak to power home first time. Upminster responded
strongly and some poor defending and an inability to clear the ball
for a counter-attack led to a goal-mouth melee which Upminster forced home. With the last strike of the game Upminster scored to snatch victory and with it the likely chances of the boys progressing to the next round.

Chelmsford were no match for the boys, eager to set the record
straight after the last loss and Nicholas Crossley hammered home his short corner strike, 'nutmegging' the goalkeeper from the top of the D with a blistering shot. Charlie Britt followed up with a brace using wonderful skills in the D to draw the 'keeper before slotting home. Maxwell Wilkes made important contributions on the left attack slot and won a few short corners, drawing the foul.

Colchester were calmly beaten too with an unfortunate goal conceded towards the end of the match as Crostyx pushed forward for more goals.

The big final match was against local rivals Old Loughtonians. With the boys knowing most of the players in the opposition team, this match was the highlight of the tournament for Crostyx because of the way the boys raised their game. There was an immediate step up in the pace and flair to the side. The boys quickly mounted attack after attack on the Old Loughts defence, Charlie Britt and Felix Murphy bypassing their counterparts in midfield to create scoring opportunities. Crostyx scored first from a delightfully well-worked move. Angelo Boyce showed what class act he is with his commitment to marking and denied their dangerous left forward any space to do any damage. Nicholas's passing out of defence continually beat the opposition press and found Felix and Charlie in space for another wave of attacks. The match clearly meant a lot to both sides and there were some points where the umpires may have stepped in to protect
skill and to calm the situation a little.

As the match progressed the Crostyx defence pushed higher but exposed themselves to the fast break. Crostyx 'keeper Owen Chance twice found himself in a three-against-one situation with no Crostyx defenders to be seen. The first one he saved but the second time Loughts scored, making it 1-1. Again Crostyx pushed forward to score but Charlie was injured in the opposition D and a key attack came to nothing. Loughts brought the play up and won a short corner only for Charlie to be hit by the Loughts striker's shot, just a metre or so away. Somehow another short corner was awarded but they were unable to score. Charlie came off to recover from the considerable blow to his leg but fortunately was able to go back on and play through it. The remaining attacks were snuffed out by Loughts and another short corner won by
them. This time there were no players ready to cover Charlie's role
and the replica short corner led to a goal at the near post with the
last touch of the game. It was a shame to lose the game when they had played so well and had the opportunity to win it.

Crostyx finished fourth in the end but know that a top two spot at
this level is attainable and the aim for next season.

Blue Hornets A L4-1; Hamza Sheikh

Old Loughtonians B W1-0; Jonah Winfield-Gummer

Blue Hornets B W3-0; Charlie Britt 2; Hamza 1

Upminster L2-1; Zak Sheikh

Chelmsford W3-0; Nicholas Crossley; Charlie Britt 2

Colchester W3-1

Old Loughtonians A L2-1; Charlie Britt