BASINGSTOKE under-11 Schools side made the semi-finals in their first ever visit to the Danone Nations Cup finals held at the ground of Premier League side Stoke City.

The Basingstoke side were drawn in a group with Barnet, Wallsend and East Riding.

The first game against Barnet was a bit of a wake up call as they found themselves 2-0 down early on.

Their performance improved into the second half, but they got caught pushing forward and conceded a third goal near the end.

The second group game against Wallsend, saw Basingstoke take the lead through and excellent finish by Luke Howard.

The lead did not last long as Wallsend equalised, and both sides lost their opening game the tension grew. Jamie Davis scored the winner with a deflected effort which gave the Wallsend goalkeeper no chance.

Going into their final group game Basingstoke knew a win against East Riding would book them a place in the semi-finals.

The encounter saw some of the best football played all year as chance after chance was created and was eventually rewarded with goals from Howard, Ollie Bell and a Davis hat-trick for a 5-0 victory.

This meant a semi-final against South Birmingham, who won a tight group, where there had only been three goals in total in their six group matches.

The game was very tight and going into the last two minutes it was still 0-0.

Bastian Smith made an excellent save but the ball looped up onto the bar and when it dropped back into play one of the South Birmingham players nodded the ball into an empty net.

Having nothing now to lose, the team pushed forward looking for an equaliser, but right at the end, got caught on the break to concede a second goal. The game then finished 2-0.

The lads could be hugely proud of their efforts. They became the first Basingstoke Schools side to make a national finals to add to their win in the Hampshire League.

They also were awarded the Fair Play award for the Inter District competition.

Pictured left to right, Tyler Field, Harry Smith, Jamie Davis, Luke Howard, Bastian Smith, Harrie Westerman, Taylor McBriar, Fin Buchanan, Berri Lamont and captain Ollie Bell.