The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Under-11 football team sponsored by Cadogan Tate has returned from their annual tour of Cannes. The team, made up of mostly new faces, with the exception of two players making their return from last year’s tour, came close to securing some silverware in France but came across some very tough competition.
RBKC got the campaign off to a good start with a 1-0 victory over Cuers in an all-round solid performance. The following match against Trinite was a little closer to call and ended in a 1-1 draw.
The third game was more of a lesson in counting, than a football match with RBKC coming out as 13-0 winners against the Côte d’Azur side, FC Mougins. With plenty of confidence in their stride, RBKC added to their list of victories with a very reassuring 6-0 win against La Baie.
In the fifth match, RBKC played one of the host teams, Cannes, and within a few short minutes the hosts were 2-nil down and starting to show signs of buckling. By the final whistle, the result was a resounding 6-nil and was an accurate representation of the standard of football on display.
With the group matches out of the way, and RBKC sitting at the top of their pool, it was on to the final stages of the tournament. A solid start against the other co-host team, AS Cannes, earned RBKC an early lead but it was soon equalised and a nail-biting penalty shoot-out saw the home team claim a 5-4 victory.
The battle for 5th place started with a 2-nil win over St Sylvestre, guaranteeing RBKC at least 6th place overall. The final game against FC Grimaud was a very close match and it went all the way to penalties after both teams failed to score, despite two substitutes being used, ensuring all players were used during the match. Learning from their previous penalty shoot-out, RBKC emerged victorious and bagged fifth place in the tournament.
Cadogan Tate would like to congratulate The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Under-11 football team for their performance in France and wish them all the best for the coming season.
 
Cadogan Tate’s Stuart Ashe with the boys of the RBKC Under 11 Football Team