Tankerton FC U13s Enjoy Success in First Season of 11-a-side Football!
Tankerton FC Under 13s (for the 2020/2021 season) enjoyed a successful start to their journey through 11-a-side football, by finishing a heavily disrupted season as runners-up in the East Kent Youth League U13s Division 3!
The team started the season with a strong performance against Chartham Sports, resulting in a good opening weekend victory, running out 6-2 winners, before following that up with another comfortable victory (6-1) against Deal Town Rangers. However, defeats followed in back to back games against Woodnesborough and Faversham Town, before a winning return against East Kent FC, and that was followed up with an impressive victory against Ramsgate Youth in a very defensively-assured display, resulting in a 2-0 victory. The team then played eventual champions Canterbury Eagles for the first time in the season, resulting in a narrow 4-3 defeat in a brilliant contest that turned out to be the team's final game for over 5 months, due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.
At the halfway stage of the season the team sat 4th, knowing that, if they beat the teams above them, a top 2 finish was still in their hands. Following the break, the team returned in April and played East Kent FC in their first game back, turning in their best performance of the season to run out 11-0 winners! This was followed up by a brilliant team display against a fantastic Woodnesborough side, where the team ground out a 2-0 win in one of the best and closest games of football of the season! The team took momentum from this performance and put 13 past Faversham Town the following week, to move into 2nd place with 3 games to go, knowing that 6 points from those final 3 games would be enough to take a top 2 finish.
In sodden conditions where the rain just did not stop, the team secured a 4-0 win at Chartham Sports and went into the following week's game against Ramsgate Youth, knowing that 3 points would be enough for 2nd place. Ramsgate did not make it easy and frustrated the team, with the scores still level at half time. The team found a breakthrough shortly after half time, to go 1-0 up and that was the final score, which secured second place! The team played Canterbury Eagles in the final game of the season, which was a fantastic game between two closely-matched sides, which saw the Champions run out 2-1 winners in very hot conditions.
The team won 9 of its 13 games, scoring over 50 goals and conceded just 14 goals, keeping 7 clean sheets in the process, which is unprecedented in youth football! The team went from strength to strength and after some early blips trying to find their feet and their best positions on the pitch, the team really grew in confidence and ability! The 17 players in the squad should be so proud of their achievements!
The team would also like to thank the TrainFor Group, who started sponsoring the team during the season, which was an incredible gesture and commitment given the impact of the pandemic on businesses. As the team head into the Under 14s, they are proud to carry their logo on the front of their shirts.