Watford Football Club came close to sealing Premier League glory – thanks to Marlborough Science Academy.
The school had entered the Premier League Schools Six-a-side Football Tournament along with 1,700 others across the country.
And after fighting their way through a gruelling qualifying competition, they came out on top, booking one of the 20 places in the national finals as the representatives of Watford.
The finals meant a trip to Goodison Park, home of Everton, but prior to that they were given a coaching session by Watford, which included a visit from star striker Troy Deeney and a number of the Watford ladies squad.
The team, made up of Year 7 and 8 girls, travelled to Liverpool in style, on board QPR’s team bus, before running out from the players’ tunnel to the Premier League anthem.
They started perfectly with a 1-0 win over West Ham United before being brought back to earth with a 4-0 defeat to Sunderland.
After leading 2-0 against Crystal Palace in game three, they were eventually pegged back to a 2-2 draw, meaning they needed a win in their final outing with Manchester United to be in contention of topping the group and making the next round.
They fell behind early but fought back to level things up at 1-1.
Unfortunately they were unable to find a winner which left them as group runners-up, two points behind Sunderland, who would go on to win the competition.
A spokeswoman for the school said: “Each of the ladies received a finalist medal, a goodie bag and hopefully memories that will last a lifetime.
“It is due to their superb contribution and hard work to the after school training in the lead up to the competition that paid off.
“Marlborough would also like to thank Watford Football Club who enabled this fantastic opportunity to happen.”
The Marlborough squad: Jess Williams (c), Sam Farrer, Kamdi Iweka, Charlotte Callaghan, Kayra Karkus, Lydia Edwards, Mahirah Khan, Alicia Davey Pascoe.
The training session and interviews was filmed and can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN4rKHX4ab4&safe=active
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