Young Lions Roar to Glory in Rain-Soaked Cup Final

By Tess Turnstile, Sidmouth Gazette

St Peter’s U13s 3 – 2 Riverview Academy
Kingsmeadow Recreation Ground, Saturday

The heavens opened, the crowd huddled under umbrellas fashioned from PE bags, and somewhere in the deluge eleven pint-sized gladiators carved their names into playground folklore. St Peter’s under-13s overturned a two-goal deficit to lift the South-Devon Schools Cup in a contest that had everything but decent weather.

Riverview opened briskly, Sam “Silky” Wilton curling home inside four minutes, before a puddle-aided bobble embarrassed keeper Alfie Brooks for 0-2. Many teams would have wilted; St Peter’s simply wrung out their shirts. Captain Leo Grant halved the arrears with a thunder-bolt free-kick that rattled the crossbar, post and nerves in equal measure.

After the interval Finlay Jones produced a mazy dribble so dizzying one Riverview defender asked for a travel-sickness pill; his neat finish levelled matters. With penalties looming, super-sub Milo Rhodes wrote his own comic strip, toe-poking home amid a goal-mouth mud-slide that resembled Glastonbury’s car park. Cue bedlam: parents whooping, science teacher Mr Davies dancing dangerously with a corner flag.

Referee Mr Fairfax mercifully blew up before the pitch needed oxygen. As Leo Grant hoisted silverware the St Peter’s chorus rang out: “We’re top of the lunch-queue!” Come Monday morning, muddy boots and bragging rights will be paraded down every corridor. Riverview may dry out, but their soggy sorrow could linger until Christmas.

If this is the future of English football, brollies and belief will be mandatory kit.