April 2, 2018

After a busy and successful football season, the under 11 boys came within a whisker of ending the campaign in style. Storming their way into the cup final, without conceding a single goal, the Bulldogs fell agonisingly close after a penalty shoot-out defeat against the league champions, Ascot.

Breezing through the group stages, Prep dropped only two points on their way to the final. An opening game draw (0-0) against TRAIL was followed by three straight wins. First against St Andrews Dusit. The Bulldogs, with goals from Yuya, Nicholas and Avi (2), stormed to a 4-0 victory. Next was a frustrating encounter against Regents; one goal (from Yuya) was enough to secure a 1-0 victory. In the final group game encounter, Prep needed only a draw against St Andrews 107 to progress to the final. Two goals from Nicholas set up a 2-0 victory; moving Prep one game closer to cup glory.

In a tense final, our under 11 boys more than matched up to their tough counterparts. After having beaten an impressive St Andrews 71 earlier in the group stages, Ascot were clear favourites. The league champions are a formidable side but the Bulldogs were in no mood to display any signs of weakness. In a roller-coaster ride of emotions, and despite both teams having good chances, the game ended 0-0 after normal time.

It was during extra-time that the game really came to life. First to score was Ascot. At this point, and with the clock ticking away, the Bulldogs may have been forgiven for conceding defeat; however, it is not in their nature. A superb last minute header from Avi brought Prep back into the game and levelled the scores at 1-1. Despite an excellent free-kick right at the death, from Nicholas, Prep were unable to find a winner and the game went to penalties.

Despite losing in the lottery that is a penalty shoot-out, our young Bulldogs showed a lot of heart. They were superb all day and a real credit to Bangkok Prep. Well done boys!!

Simon Callow

Year 6 Teacher and Primary School Numeracy Coordinator