Nine members of the 2004 Rovers and Colts squad (and 11 parents) headed off to Scotland for the ESF Football Festival in Ayr. From the minute the group met at the Stenaline Terminal in Belfast the boys were buzzing with excitement! After the boat and coach journey and eventually checking into our luxury 5* Accommodation at Craig Tara Holiday Park the boys spent the rest of the evening spending their parents money in the arcades, whilst the parents relaxed over a few cups of ‘coffee’. As the boys retired for the night we sustained our first injury of the weekend before a ball was even kicked when Max Shannon accidently landed on Adam Willis’ ankle during a Haribo binge!

Saturday 5th April

Morning arrived and following breakfast in the McEneaney villa the lads were geared up and ready for the games ahead, a short shuttle bus journey to the old Ayr Racecourse, set up our Gazebo and kick off for the first game was upon us, After Doc, Jonny and James led the warm-up on the cold, wet and windy Scottish morning the boys kicked off first against Rossvale Brazil captained by Ben Johnston, In a closely contested 2-0 win with goals from Ben Johnston and Ruairi McEneaney. Adam Willis’ ankle injury caused him to struggle through the game and he played no further part on the field for the rest of the day.

Next up, Captained by Max Shannon was a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Ayr Boswell, after the first game the boys had switched off a little bit and although had all the possession and peppered the goalmouth with a multitude of shots, they just switched off to let Ayr record the victory, one nice consolation at the end of the game was another coach watching on who came over to congratulate the boys on their performance and couldn’t believe the scoreline.
Spurred on by earlier defeat (and the prospect that 2 victories in the remaining games would result in a trip to the swimmers when we got back to the holiday park) the boys rolled their sleeves up and went out and played a fantastic game against Dundee United, winning 3-1 with goals from Ryan McKay and Nathan Leckey (2), captained by Ryan McKay. In another show of appreciation. The parents and coaches of Dundee United stood on the sidelines and clapped off the RRFC boys in recognition of how well they had played.

Final game of the day and with spirits high knowing that they had played so well as a unit in the opening 3 games the boys went out and achieved a 4-1 victory over Blantyre SA with goals from Max Shannon (2), Ruairi McEneaney and Saul Quinn. Reece Halliday who had been feeling unwell in the lead up to this game had to come off with an upset stomach and missed the rest of this game. Nathan Leckey wore the armband with pride to lead out the side in this one!!

Sunday 6th April

....and another ‘team breakfast’ was held in the McEneaney chalet to prepare for the day! With only 2 fixtures to play one of the teams was a late withdrawal from the tournament so the last fixture was to be played against Dundee United ‘B’.
But first up was a game against Muirieston United. Reece Halliday, who was due to captain the side in this game, missed it due to being sick overnight and still feeling unwell, so the side was captained by Joel Chambers in what was considered game of the weekend. Going 1-0 down early on and feeling a little jaded from the previous 2 days and nights of enjoyment the boys roared back and equalised through the returning Adam Willis. Straight from kick off though, Murieston’s forward took the ball past 5 people and slotted past Saul Quinn in the Ridgeway goal. 2-1 down at half time but the boys knew they were on top and their persistency would eventually pay off. A few minutes into the second half they got their just rewards and popped home the equaliser courtesy of Saul Quinn. Ridgeway continued to batter Murieston and with seconds left on the clock a quick counter attacking throw in from Max Shannon released Ryan McKay down the left side who whipped the ball across goal where Adam Willis slid in to fire the ball into the top corner to score his second and win 3-2. After the game, the SFA referee approached one of the Ridgeway coaches and said that for passing a ball and keeping it on the ground they were the best group of players he had ever seen at that level!!

Last game of the festival for the Ridgeway boys against Dundee United ‘B’. Buoyed by how well the previous games had gone and wanting to finish with a bang, they didn’t half, winning 11-0 with goals from Nathan Leckey (3), Max Shannon, Adam Willis, Saul Quinn (all 2), Ryan McKay and Joel Chambers. Captained by Saturdays injury victim, Adam Willis.

The awards that Sunday evening were handed out by ex-Scotland legend and Sky Soccer Saturday pundit, Alan McInally. Although the players only recognised him and knew him as “the voice from the match updates in FIFA!!!!” having all been rewarded by a mini World Cup ball for their efforts there was no major trophies on offer for the Ridgeway boys as the results did not count in a league format for their age, however, the boys were quick to comment that the goalkeeper who made save of the week had made it in the Ayr Boswell v Ridgeway Rovers game following a pile driver from Reece Halliday and the team to win the fair play award was the Dundee United ‘B’ team who had played on tirelessly despite a heavy defeat at the hands of RRFC so on the whole they were happy enough that they had shown the Ayr festival what they had to offer !!

The return home on the Monday 7th April was a happy one, with all players, parents and coaches chomping at the bit to get booked for next year. Many thanks to all the parents who travelled, ate, drank and shared rooms together.

To the coaches, who organised the boys and more importantly to the players who were a credit to themselves and Ridgeway Rovers FC both on and off the pitch the entire weekend.