TWO goals from Liam Scott settled the final of the Herefordshire Primary Schools Football Tournament in favour of Riverside after a hard-fought battle against St Paul's.

The Tupsley school fought back through Sebastian Morris after falling two goals behind and made Riverside work hard before they were able to collect their first county title.

Thirty-three schools from all over the county took part in the competition at Wyeside with the tournament splitting into plate and cup competitions after the initial round-robin stages.

Two smaller schools reached the semi-final stage of the cup with Pencombe and Stretton Sugwas being eliminated by St Paul's and Riverside respectively.

In the plate, Much Birch repeated their victory from the previous year by beating Lord Scudamore in the final.

"IT has been a hugely successful day, the weather has been good and it's brilliant to see so many kids here enjoying themselves," said Hereford Cathedral Junior School's Stuart Turpin, the event organiser.

"It is a very popular competition throughout the county, lots have parents have come down to support and the atmosphere has been really good which is important.

"There are some very good players on show some of whom already have a connection with Hereford United, there are some girls playing, too, which is good to see - the Pencombe team which got through to the semi-finals had two girls playing in their side.

"There has been some decent football played."

"It's been a fantastic day for the school," said Riverside's sports coordinator Colin Preece.

"Stuart Turpin and the Cathedral School do a terrific job in organising the competition and the facilities are great down here.

"Win, lose or draw it is a great experience for all the schools to come to play.

"We have not played a lot of school football because of the weather and so it was especially nice to do well today on such a sunny day.

"We played St Paul's recently in a Futsal final and they narrowly beat us 3-2 so it's a nice bit of revenge."

St Paul's headteacher Andrew Teale said that his school had been delighted to be part of the event.

"We were delighted to make the final and a little disappointed to not quite make it at the end there but Riverside played brilliantly and we are just delighted to be here," he said.

"It was a very competitive final - Riverside are a very strong team and deserved to do well.

"We had a difficult journey with two penalty shoot-outs to get to the final so we were happy to be there after that.

"The boys gave it their best and, while we're disappointed at the end of it, football was the winner today."

Results

Cup, first round: St Paul’s 3 Eardisley 1 AET, Leominster Jnr 2 Stoke Prior 0, Pencombe 1 St Thomas Cantilupe 0, Hereford Cathedral Junior School A 3 Ledbury 1 (on pens), Ashfield Park 1 Our Lady’s 0, Stretton Sugwas 1 Brockhampton 0 AET, Riverside 3 Trinity 1, Hampton Dene 1 HCJS B 0.

Quarter Finals: St Paul’s 3 Leominster 2 (on pens), Pencombe 3 HCJS 0, Ashfield Park 0 Stretton Sugwas 1, Riverside 1 Hampton Dene 0.

Semi Finals: St Paul’s 2 Pencombe 0 (on pens), Stretton Sugwas 0 Riverside 3.

Final: St Paul’s 1 Riverside 2.

Plate, First Round: Bridstow 2 Holmer 1, Marlbrook 6 Bredenbury 0, St Francis Xavier 1 Clehonger 0, Much Birch 2 St James 1, Ashperton 1 Ewyas Harold 0, St Peter’s Bromyard 0 Kingsland 3, Kingstone 1 Almeley 0, Lord Scudamore 1 Madley 0.

Quarter Finals: Bridstow 3 Marlbrook 4 (on pens), SFX 0 Much Birch 1, Ashperton 2 Kingsland 0, Kingstone 0 Lord Scudamore 1 AET.

Semi Finals: Marlbrook 0 Much Birch 2, Ashperton 0 Lord Scudamore 1.

Final: Much Birch 2 Lord Scudamore 0.

Will Powell on the ball for St. Paul's against Eardisley.

Brandon Gore celebrates a goal for Lord Scudamore against Madley.

Hampton Dene's James Jenkins and Riverside's Josh Hyde tussle for the ball.

The winning Riverside team, back row (left to right): Josh Hyde , Hubert Djenowiec, Jacob Pawlak, Mason Jones, Andrew Robertson, Kyran Phelps; front: Liam Scott, Regan Bridges, Mason Godsall , Kyle Llewellyn.

St Paul's were cup runners-up.

Pencombe's Hugo Bernard-Pullen runs at the St Paul's defence in the cup semi-final.

St Paul's Pardoe Kendrick and Pencombe's Archie Muirhead in the cup semi-final.

St. Paul's goalkeeper Theo Lind is saved by the post in the semi-final against Pencombe.

Action pictures by JAMES MAGGS.