Well what another remarkable tour we've just had, four days down on the Isle of Wight with a great set of boys and lovely parents who all made it a memorable weekend for those that travelled. It began with blue skies and a hint of warmth in the air as we made our way down to Hampshire and across the Solent to our base in Shanklin. We settled into our surroundings on Friday evening and discussed the football ahead of us over the occasional beverage and my assumption was that, based on past experiences, the touring teams would likely be stronger than the local sides and likelier to be our main rivals over the weekend - which proved to be very accurate.

Day one saw us fortunate to avoid the predicted poor weather and we got away quite lightly in terms of rain and managed to stay dry throughout that first afternoon. The football, on the other hand, was not as bright and we didn't have the best of starts. To be fair, in our first game against a very good Andover Town (Hampshire) we played well and I felt that we were the stronger side in the first half but without causing too many problems. Kicking slightly downhill in the second period we again took control of the game and started to cause them some problems and should have taken the lead, and the points, when Billy Heaps was bundled to the ground in the area and then stepped up to take the penalty - which was hit too close to the keeper and he made a good save. The game ended 0-0, and we came away disappointed not to have got off to a winning start.

The second game saw us produce probably our worst performance of the two days, as we faced a good Bishop's Cannings side from Wiltshire. We didn't play too well and we gifted them a chance in the second half when we conceded possession in our own area and their player crossed for another team mate to score from close range into an empty net. We didn't have time to recover from that, nor did we really look like doing so, and the boys came away really down with a few tears being shed. It's a very old saying, but I told them that there are two things in football - winning and learning. A few boys had made errors over the first two games, they are still 10 and 11 years old, but it is how you react and what you learn that sets you apart from others. We could either let it affect us now for two days or we could respond and show that we were ready to roll up our sleeves and find a way to win a game.

Our third game saw us paired with local side Cowes Youth, and I've never witnessed such a one-sided event in my life. We battered them in the first period, and again in the second period, we hit both posts and the crossbar and as the game went on I started to believe that it just wasn't our weekend. Three games in and no goals scored would be a disaster that we would struggle to recover from but, just as we were giving up hope, fortune favoured our bravery. A mad goalmouth scramble in the dying seconds saw the ball fall to Albie Battle and he lofted an effort that beat the previously heroic Cowes keeper and it nestled into the net and you could see the relief on the faces of the players and parents. I don't think we realised at the time how important that goal would be in the final table, but for now it was three points and a chance to kick-start our weekend.

Now that the players had visibly relaxed, I did feel that we could finish the day strongly and I had asked them to win the final two games on day one and to give themselves an outside chance of making the final - nothing else would do. I felt that our biggest issue was finishing the many chances that we were creating as we didn't really have an out and out striker in our squad. It was time for some re-jigging and up until now we had been sharing goalkeeping duty between our two keepers Neo and Mason. Mathew Harwood is a reliable centre half but I took a chance and pushed him up front as a striker and asked Neo to cover in defence with Liam Nelson shifting across to centre half. It was a bit of a risk, but a calculated one in that I felt we could win the next game against local team Gurnard Youth.

It was Mathew that forced the first goal, after twice going close, as he pressurized a defender into scoring an own goal that immediately relaxed the team. Before half time it was 2-0 when George Carr, doing a great job guesting for Stevenage, found the net and now the boys were buzzing. We continued to press and create chances in the second half and substitute Billy Heaps soon made it 3-0 before Neo Donoghue, enjoying his release from the sticks, scored a fourth - much to his delight.

We had one tough game left to play as the afternoon drew to a close, and it would be against a decent Newport Youth side from the Isle of Wight. It was important that we remained calm and composed and focused on our football, and we began the game strongly creating several chances with Albie particularly a threat down the right hand side as he twice beat defenders and sent dangerous crosses flashing across the area. But it remained 0-0 at the break, not a bad result but because of the earlier dropped points we really did need the victory. With time ticking away in the second half it was left to Wyatt Croucher to seal the victory when he calmly slotted home in the coolest fashion and was mobbed by his team mates. Newport rarely threatened our goal after this and the three points meant that we finished day one in second position but with a few clubs in hot pursuit.

The days' action was reviewed in great detail in the clubhouse that night, we looked at every permutation possible and plotted our plans for day two (some dads were more plotted than others by time we left the clubhouse to be fair). It was clear that the key game would be the first game the next afternoon when we would face a very good Omonia Youth team from Middlesex, who were hot on our heels in third place.

We woke up to torrential showers on the second day of football, and although the afternoon was to remain mostly dry, the frequent downpours had left most of the pitches in a poor condition after many games had already been played in the morning session. And the organisers had made errors with their planning which meant that we had over a one hour wait before our first game - so we retired to a nearby Premier Inn for some coffee and to keep the players dry and warm. Storm Katie was fast approaching and the winds had picked up and were blowing a gale across the pitches making football a lottery.

We finally took to the pitch to face Omonia in what was a crucial game, and to be honest I don't think that we played particularly badly. It was quite an even game, but they had one opportunity in the second half and their quick striker took it well for the only goal of the game which meant that the Middlesex side had leap-frogged us in the table and were in pole position along with Bishop's Cannings. The players were naturally down at the final whistle, Omonia were celebrating (and rightly so) but I told the boys to listen to that celebration because I felt it was slightly premature - although a look at the remaining fixtures revealed that they had a much easier task than us in the final three games and as long as they didn't slip up they would be facing Bishop's Cannings in the final.

Our task was easy, we had three games which we had to win and then we had to hope that others slipped up. It was a long shot, but whilst we still had a chance we had to put pressure on the other teams by winning games. I decided at that stage on a make-or-break decision to permanently change our shape for the remaining matches. Mason Bettles had demonstrated that he was a competent keeper that we could rely on and I decided that he would stay in goal now instead of rotating with Neo. I actually felt that Neo had made a good impression on pitch and that we could use him better as an outfield player (not that he had done anything wrong in goal) and I also risked moving Mathew Harwood up front as a striker for the remainder of the tournament.

So up next we faced local team West Wight on a very sticky pitch and although we looked to be the stronger side I could sense a bit of panic creeping into our play. We were desperate to win the game, probably too desperate, and in the first half we wasted a number of good opportunities by rushing our efforts. We started shooting from all over the pitch and we reached the break all square at 0-0. I asked the boys to calm down slightly, to forget about shooting from outside the box, and to start linking up with wall passes instead of trying to take players on. Our second half was much-improved, we started to move the ball around quickly and we soon started to create chances with Billy Heaps scoring a first goal to calm our nerves. He then added a second goal to seal the victory and so we had the first of three victories in the bag.

Our penultimate group game was against a very good Brading Town, who also had an outside chance of making the final. Their results showed that they were going to be tough to beat, having already beaten top side Bishop's Cannings 2-0, but this was probably one of our best performances of the two days. From the very first whistle we were the better side, we had an urgency about us that Brading couldn't match or cope with and we tested their keeper several times with Mathew Harwood a constant threat up front against a centre half that must have been as tall as me! We got to the break all square, but I still felt that we still had chances in us. The Brading keeper had made a few very good saves, but there was not much he could do when Mathew controlled the ball inside the area with his chest and then sent the ball through a crowd of players into the net for 1-0. We held on well to gain another three points and we headed sharply across to the organisers tent to establish the current situation.

Unfortunately for us, Omonia had won their penultimate game against Newport, who I felt were the only side capable of nicking a draw against them. The Omonia players were celebrating with ice-creams all round, believing that they were now in the final - though their coach was trying to reassure them that they still had one final game to go - albeit against bottom side Cowes Youth. That game, and our game, started around the same time and I was trying to focus the boys on the task ahead whilst I had one eye on events developing on a pitch 200 yards away!

The Stevenage side were in confident mood now, there was no way we were going to gift Omonia an easy path into the final and they were determined to make them work all the way by winning our match against another tricky opponent in Ryde Saints who had gained points against some of the better sides here. I needn't have worried about our game, we blew Saints away with some great football and Mathew Harwood was still proving my decision right by scoring a superb hat-trick through hard work and good finishing and Riley Geary got off the mark with his first goal of the weekend as we won 4-0. I was sick to the stomach watching the other game as Omonia were awarded a second half penalty, it was all over now, our efforts would be in vain. But the superb Cowes Youth keeper (who had denied us many times the day before) pulled off one of several fine saves and the game finished 0-0 - unbelievable!!!

It was heart-breaking for the Omonia Youth team who had battered Cowes Youth (as had we) and seen chance after chance go begging and the keeper make a string of quite unbelievable saves. News filtered through to our boys whilst we were still playing our game, and as the final whistle blew there was both confusion and happiness. Players and parents were asking for confirmation that Omonia had indeed only drawn and then it was confirmed that we were in the final. I had packed up some of our bags thinking that we were about to head home after this final group game, and I was preparing a few well-chosen concluding words to try and pick the boys up. But now we had a final game to prepare for against Bishop's Mannings who had beaten us yesterday!

I didn't need to pick the boys up for this, we were the team in the ascendency right now and I could sense the determination within the team to avenge the previous day's defeat. We continued with the same changes, Mason asked to stay in goal and Neo moved to a central defensive position and Mathew remaining as a striker. All three were influential in the final, Neo was outstanding at the heart of our defence with screams of "NEO'S BALL!!!" as he won header after header, and the few times that Mason was brought into action he made some very good saves and his distribution all weekend was superb. In Mathew we had somebody that could be a game-changer in attack, he is tall, quick and a right handful for any defender. We played ever so well in the first half, were the better side and looked comfortable in defence.

As the second half started to unfold I started to plan ahead and to who would be our penalty takers should it come to that if the sides could not be separated. But we then created a superb move and finish that would grace any cup final. Billy Heaps won possession in our half and moved quickly into our opponents half where Mathew had come short to receive and they played a lovely 1-2 which sent Billy wide down our right. Billy sent in a superb cross with pace that whipped across the area and Riley Geary had timed his run perfectly to smash the ball home first time from just inside the area to send the Stevenage gathering into raptures.

We battled fiercely for the time that remained, and I couldn't see a way back into the game for the Wiltshire side now that we had our noses in front. The final whistle was met with joy and celebration and I was so pleased for our boys who had worked so hard from a desperate position and they never gave up hope. We didn't always play at our best throughout, but when we did we were a match for anybody. What I couldn't fault at any point was the determination and resilience shown by everybody in the team.

Celebrations went on late into that Sunday night, which meant that some people probably didn't know that Storm Katie was reeking havoc across the island with winds recorded up to 106mph! The boys received their winners medals and cup from ex-Leicester, Birmingham and Portsmouth star Steve Claridge and then danced their way through to bedtime in the clubhouse. It is very rewarding to see the smiles on their faces, to know that their efforts (not just from the weekend but over the course of this season) have led to deserved success and they have also been a credit to their families and to their schools representing Stevenage over the weekend.

SQUAD
Mason Bettles - Hasn't been our #1 keeper this season but has NEVER ever let us down when selected. He didn't put a foot wrong.
Liam Nelson - One of the players of the tournament for me, consistently good in every game that we played.
Mathew Harwood - Got over some disappointment to lead our charge into the final. We would not have progressed without his goals.
Harry Archbold - Mr Dependable, tough defender but also stepped in as my captain for a few games where he flourished.
Wyatt Croucher - He may be very quiet, but Wyatt impressed me this weekend. Probably the best I've seen him play all season.
Neo Donoghue - Always great in goal, but out on pitch I thought he was the best player on the field for that final. Commanding.
Albie Battle - The clue is in the name, he never stops running or working hard. Scored one of the most important goals of the weekend!
Billy Heaps - Was outstanding all weekend in midfield or attack. He is such a good leader, by example and by encouraging his team.
Riley Geary - Waited to the last two games, but what important goals! Worked hard alongside Billy in midfield all weekend.
George Carr - Stepped in last minute for somebody that pulled out (thanks Letchworth & Baldock!). Despite being an outsider, he knew some of the boys but worked hard in unfamiliar circumstances to be a valuable member of the winning team and looked liked he'd been a Stevenage District player all season!

Before signing off, I'd like to place on record my thanks to all of the parents and family members that travelled and who supported the boys over the weekend. It isn't cheap going away for four days, but you all made it a wonderful weekend for the players and I'm sure that they will all have memories that they will cherish for many years. We've had some good laughs ourselves and I've thoroughly enjoyed your company and I appreciate the help that you've given me too.

Special thanks to Tony for running the line every game.

Happy days.

Steve