Inverness secondary school Charleston Academy are through to under-14 North of Scotland Cup final after beating Mintlaw Academy - They will face Dingwall Academy in the final
Charleston Academy are through to the Under-14 North of Scotland Cup final after they defeated Mintlaw Academy 6-3 in their semi final clash.
The Inverness school were in ruthless form in front of goal as they raced into a 5-0 lead at half time. Bartek Faferek scored a first half hat-trick with Liam Wright and Archie MacPherson also finding the game to give them a commanding lead.
Goalkeeper Seamus Marquis had to pull a number of saves to keep a clean sheet in the first half.
Faferek added another goal after the break to make it 6-0 to Charleston. However, Mintlaw did threaten a comeback and managed to score three late goals to bring it back to 6-3. Charleston regained composure and managed to see out the game to seal their place in the final.
They will face Dingwall Academy in the final with a date and venue to be confirmed.
Faculty head of physical education, art and music Ryan Mackintosh said it is an incredible achievement for the school to reach the final of the competition.
He said: “I have been working at the school for 12 years and this is the first time Charleston have reached the final during that time.
“For Charleston to get to the final we are delighted. We are not one of the biggest schools in the area, so the pupils have done really well to get to the final.
“For all the players it was like Christmas had come early and it is a tremendous achievement for everyone involved.
“Our strikers and wingers were just so clinical as we managed to score goals on the counter attack and raced into a commanding lead at half time.
“But our goalkeeper had to make some great saves early on which stopped it becoming a different kind of game. Mintlaw came back into the game in the second half but we saw it through with a great team performance.
“We had five S1 pupils in the squad and for such a young team we have done really well. We are now looking forward to the final against Dingwall Academy.”
Charleston Academy recently received a gold medal from SportScotland for sport provision and leadership opportunity provided in the department.
The school also took a team of 37 runners for the North of Scotland Cross Country Competition at Gordonstoun.
Mackintosh added: “We place a lot of emphasis on sport at the school as it is a great platform for pupils to experience success and excel outside the classroom.
“We recognise that and the school supports that.”
