Junior
Youngsters love being on Parade
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| Bradford City under-12s and the Craven, Aire & Wharfe League representative side line up before their game |
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Scores of youngsters enjoyed the thrill of a lifetime as a three-day junior football extravaganza was held at Valley Parade.
Teams from across the district got the chance to play in the 25,000-seater stadium as the Craven, Aire & Wharfe League staged its cup finals at City's ground.
A series of showcase matches featuring representative sides from the league against the Bantams junior sides were also held over the bank holiday weekend.
And league secretary Mike Breeze declared the event a big success.
He said: "It has been a very good weekend and we'd like to say a big thank you' to (City joint-chairman) Mark Lawn and everyone at Bradford City."
"I know Alan Nevison and Peter Horne from the youth set-up put a lot of time into it and I'd also like to pay tribute to Ian Ormonroyd for his input.
"We look forward to hopefully working with them again next year."
Breeze said holding the finals at such a big stadium had made it extra special for the youngsters.
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| City under-11 juniors and their Craven, Aire and Wharfe League opponents |
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"It was a prestigious place for them to play their games and was a big thrill," he said.
"There was a big downpour on Sunday and I felt sorry for the groundstaff but they did a marvellous job in getting the pitch fit for the following day."
Bantams manager Staurt McCall was watching in the stands as his son Craig was part of the City under-12s side that beat the league representative side.
Team-mate Jordan Hendrie - son of another City legend John - was among those on the scoresheet.
Idle Juniors were one of the teams to enjoy success as they beat BD3 United 2-1 in the under-12 final.
They went behind after failing to capitalise on their pressure when Hamza dispatched a penalty just before the break.
Idle equalised in the second half when Joe Mathers chipped a clever free-kick in behind the defence and captain James Swales beat the offside trap and coolly finished.
Idle's winner was scored by man of the match Josh Whiteley, who powered a great shot inside the goalkeeper's near post.
There was late drama in Bradford Park Avenue under-13s' final against Bolton Woods, which saw Avenue triumph 8-7 on a penalty shoot-out.
The only down side of the event was the under-17 final between Stanningley Albion A and Tyersal Park which was abandoned due to misconduct.
The matter is now being dealt with by the West Riding County FA.
A late goal deluge saw Farsley Celtic under-13s slip to a 6-1 defeat in their last game of the season against high flying Leeds City Juniors in the Garforth League.
After going a goal down, Dominic Staunton almost equalised for the Celts when he hit the bar. However, the leveller came when Dale Harriman out-paced the Leeds defence and coolly slotted home to make the score 1-1 at the break.
Jamie Hall and Tim Kenway went close for Farsley after the break but Leeds' superior pace and height saw them run riot in the last 15 minutes.
2:59pm Tuesday 6th May 2008
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