DATE FIXED FOR 2011 TOURNAMENTThe 2011 Barry Burns Northern Eights will take place on Wednesday 9th March a The King's' School, Chester (10.15 am).
2011 TOURNAMENT:
MANCHESTER GS DEFEAT SURPRISE PACKET STOCKPORT
Manchester Grammar School received deserved reward for a fine season when they lifted the
Barry Burns Northern Eights title on 10th March in a tournament played at the King’s School, Chester.
18 schools competed, divided into three groups, with the winners and best placed runner-up qualifying for the semi-finals. 4 points are awarded for a win in order to encourage teams to attack and to avoid too many draws in 9 minutes each way matches.
In League 1, St. Bede’s College overcame an early defeat to King’s School, Chester, to win the group.. However, Rishworth School, making their debut in ISFA competition, produced a particularly impressive performance to finish runners-up, only narrowly missing out on qualification.
League 2 was hampered by the non-attendance of Liverpool Ramblers but developed into an exciting three-way contest between Bury Grammar School, Stockport Grammar School and QEGS Blackburn. Bury looked set to win the group with 4 wins out of 4 but then went down 2-0 in their final match to Stockport who thus pipped them. However, Bury still qualified as the best placed runners-up.
Meanwhile, top place in League 3 was never in doubt as Manchester Grammar School won all five of their matches in impressive style.
In the semi-finals, MGS had the better of their match with a brave Bury side but it was not until the second half that goals from Ben Shalom and James Harford-Tyrer finally gave them victory. The other match, between St. Bede’s College and Stockport GS, was a very tight affair with defences on top and a goalless draw always looked likely. In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Stockport came through 5-4.
Stockport’s appearance in the Final was a fine achievement for a school that has played little part in ISFA tournaments in the past but they thoroughly deserved their success, scoring arguably the best goal of the day against Bury during the group stages. However, in the Final, whilst they did well to contain MGS with some excellent defending, they seldom looked like scoring and it was simply a question of whether MGS could make their dominance pay. Five minutes from time, good work on the right by Chris Wyche ended in a cross which was headed towards the goal at the near post by Ben Shalom. Stockport keeper Sam Lynch produced a brilliant reflex save but Oliver Salt was on hand to hammer home the rebound and MGS had clinched victory.
MGS thus completed the day without conceding a goal and Alex Haynes deservedly received the Cup from Barry Burns.
MGS (sky blue) v. Bury GS (navy) in the semi-final
Stockport GS (black) under pressure against St. Bede's in the semi-final
MGS (sky blue) on the attack against Stockport in the Final
Winners Manchester Grammar School
Runners-Up Stockport Grammar School
RESULTS AND LEAGUE TABLES
LEAGUE ONE
Birkdale 0 Grange 1: Rishworth 1 King’s Chester 0; RGS Newcastle 1 St. Bede’s 2; Birkdale 2 Rishworth 1; Grange 0 RGS Newcastle 0; King’s Chester 2 St. Bede’s 1; Birkdale 0 King’s Chester 1; Grange 0 St. Bede’s 2; Rishworth 1 RGS Newcastle 0; Birkdale 1 RGS Newcastle 2; Grange 3 King’s Chester 2; Rishworth 2 St. Bede’s 3; Birkdale 0 St. Bede’s 3; Grange 0 Rishworth 3; King’s Chester 1 RGS Newcastle 1
| P | W | L | D | F | A | Pts |
| St. Bede’s College | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| Rishworth | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 12 |
| King’s Chester | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| Grange | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| RGS Newcastle | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Birkdale | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
LEAGUE TWO
Bury GS 1 Liverpool Ramblers 0; Merchant Taylors 0 QEGS Blackburn 2; Repton 1 Stockport GS 2; Bury GS 3 Merchant Taylors 0;
Liverpool Ramblers 0 Repton 1; QEGS Blackburn 0 Stockport GS 0; Bury GS 2 QEGS Blackburn 1;
Liverpool Ramblers 0 Stockport GS 1; Merchant Taylors 0 Repton 4; Bury GS 2 Repton 1;
Liverpool Ramblers 0 QEGS Blackburn 1; Merchant Taylors 0 Stockport GS 5; Bury GS 0 Stockport GS 2;
Liverpool Ramblers 0 Merchant Taylors 1; QEGS Blackburn 2 Repton 0
| P | W | L | D | F | A | Pts |
| Stockport GS | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 17 |
| Bury GS | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 16 |
| QEGS Blackburn | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 13 |
| Repton | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| Merchant Taylors | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 4 |
| Liverpool Ramblers | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
LEAGUE THREE
Arnold 0 Oldham Hulme 1; GSAL 0 Manchester GS 1; Wolverhampton GS 0 Liverpool Col. 1; Arnold 2 GSAL 3; Oldham Hulme 3 Wolverhampton GS 2; Manchester GS 1 Liverpool Col. 0;
Arnold 0 Manchester GS 3; Oldham Hulme 0 Liverpool Col. 1; GSAL 4 Wolverhampton GS 1; Arnold 0 Wolverhampton GS 1; Oldham Hulme 0 Manchester GS 3; GSAL 0 Liverpool Col. 0;
Arnold 0 Liverpool Col. 3; Oldham Hulme 0 GSAL 0; Manchester GS 3 Wolverhampton GS 0
| P | W | L | D | F | A | Pts |
| Manchester GS | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 20 |
| Liverpool College | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 12 |
| Grammar School at Leeds | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 10 |
| Oldham Hulme GS | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| Wolverhampton GS | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 4 |
| Arnold | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
SEMI-FINALS:
Manchester GS 2 Bury GS 0
Stockport GS 0 St. Bede's 0
(Stockport won 5-4 on penalties)
FINAL
Manchester GS 1 Stockport GS 0
PAST WINNERS
2006 QEGS Blackburn
2007 St. Bede's College
2008 Tournament cancelled (severe weather)
2009 RGS Newcastle
2010 Manchester GS
