Posted by Michael Prewecki at 5:05pm, Friday 7 July 2017

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Over the weekend, our U11 boys played in the Premier Invitational Carnival hosted by Gold Coast Magic. There were 14 teams in this age group, and the carnival was held over three days.

Day 1 consisted of 3 groups split into 5, 5 and 4 teams playing a round robin format. The top 2 teams in each group qualifying for the Premier Invitational Cup and the bottom two playing for the Premier Invitational Plate, with the best placed 3rd place elevated to the cup.

Day 1

Our day 1 group consisted of the hosts Gold Coast Magic, Western Pride, Robina and Burleigh. We finished 3rd in our group with 2 wins and 2 losses. Our goal difference got us through to the Cup as the best 3rd placed team.

Our first game was a sensational performance and a gritty 1-0 victory over one of the tournament favourites and our hosts Gold Coast Magic. Our arrival at the tournament kicked off with a bang! A number of the support staff asked us where we were from as they'd never heard of Clairvaux. I firmly believe they were very impressed with the brand of football we played.

Our second game was a bit of a let down really but the only game over the weekend where we were out-played. The boys started very slowly and were 2-0 down to Western Pride after the 1st half. Western Pride is a very strong side, with a good pool of talent and some very strong finishers, both their technique and physicality are exceptional. They scored the 3rd goal in the second half meaning the final result was a 3-0 loss.

In the 3rd and 4th games, the results were a 5-0 victory over Burleigh and then a 2-0 loss to Robina who finished on top of our group, having won 3 and drawn 1.

Day 2

Day 2 saw us take our place on the big stage with some very stiff competition. The Premier Cup teams were Western Pride, Robina, Southern Cross (NSW), Palm Beach, Caloundra, Robina, Murwillumbah (NSW) and Clairvaux.

Our first fixture on day 2 was against Caloundra, both teams had opportunities to win the game but some fantastic goalkeeping efforts from both teams saw the teams sharing the points with a 1-1 draw.

The second game of the day was against Southern Cross, again the boys were slow out of the gates and were 1-0 down within 5 minutes but a valiant second half and some fantastic passing resulted in an equaliser and the points were shared again 1-1.

The third game of the day was against Western Pride, slow to start again the boys were 1-0 inside 5 minutes and 2-0 down at half time. The second goal was a majestic strike that no keeper in this world would have stopped; an amazing left foot strike that travelled like and arrow into the top left corner. Our second half performance was a hundred times better and the game ended 2-1 to Western Pride.

Apart from some slow starts, the boys played exceptionally well and were unlucky not to come away with more than 2 pts on day 2. 

Day 3

In the firs game, we enjoyed a great win over Robina 2-1 who had beaten us 2 days earlier, which showed that the boys have some real character and firmly believe that if they work hard they can beat anyone.

The second game was a very winnable 2-2 draw against Murwillimbah, who by all accounts was the weakest team the boys had played in the Cup, not that they were at all weak but simply that the other teams were so very strong.

Then came the final game of the competition played against Palm Beach, who up until they played us had only lost one other game over the entire 3 days to the eventual competition winners Southern Cross (who you'll note we drew with on day 2). The game was end to end, with some brilliant and gritty football, again some amazing goalkeeping and a fabulously taken volley seeing the boys cap off an amazing unbeaten final day 1-0 victory.

Final stats

• Played 10
• Won 4
• Drew 3
• Lost 3
• GF 14
• GA 12

Our team

• Josh Green (GK)
• Noah O'Shea
• Harry Thomas
• Loch Flood
• Jonah Wardill
• Jack Affleck
• Maddox Skerman
• Lachlan Wickstein
• Jack Piper
• Reid Keeley
• Tyler Hunt
• Leigh Prewecki

Summary

We are so very proud of all the boys, they are an exceptionally talented group of young players who represent their club with great spirit and enthusiasm.

No doubt we'll be back next year bigger and stronger! Watch out!

Updated 4:25pm, Monday 24 July 2017