The inaugural All Wales Secondary School ALN Cup semi-finals and finals
took place on Tuesday the 24th of June 2025 at Penybont Football Club. Schools
from across Wales were invited to take part in the very first edition of the new
competition arranged by Ysgol Bryn Castell and kindly sponsored by PE Direct.
Schools from as far away as Caernarfon to Porthmadog to Cardiff and many
places in between, faced off in preliminary rounds across two ability categories
all hoping to take home the PE Direct trophy to their respective schools.
However, following months of competition there were 8 teams left, 4 in each
ability group. Ysgol Bryn Castell (ASD Department), Trinity Fields, Maesgwyn
and Pen-Y-Bryn were the semi-finalists in the Championship ability band and
Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Ysgol Hendrefelin, Ysgol Bryn Castell and Greenhill Special
School were left in the Champions League ability band.
The inaugural All Wales Secondary School ALN Cup semi-finals and finals
took place on Tuesday the 24th of June 2025 at Penybont Football Club. Schools
from across Wales were invited to take part in the very first edition of the new
competition arranged by Ysgol Bryn Castell and kindly sponsored by PE Direct.
Schools from as far away as Caernarfon to Porthmadog to Cardiff and many
places in between, faced off in preliminary rounds across two ability categories
all hoping to take home the PE Direct trophy to their respective schools.
However, following months of competition there were 8 teams left, 4 in each
ability group. Ysgol Bryn Castell (ASD Department), Trinity Fields, Maesgwyn
and Pen-Y-Bryn were the semi-finalists in the Championship ability band and
Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Ysgol Hendrefelin, Ysgol Bryn Castell and Greenhill Special
School were left in the Champions League ability band.
Following the conclusion of the Championship semi-finals it was time the
Champions League games to kick off. YBC came up against historic rivals
Greenhill and Bro Dinefwr faced Hendrefelin. It was YBC who emerged
victorious following a strong performance from the attacking players in their
line-up whilst Bro Dinefwr edged past Hendrefelin to secure their spot in the
final. Post lunch it was time for the Championship final to start. It was great to see
the assembled crowd made up of pupils and staff from the other schools so
supportive of their peers from different schools and all were hoping to watch a
spectacle play out before them. It was Trinity Fields who got off to a solid start
creating a number of chances early in the encounter only for their rasping
strikes to be thwarted by the quick reflexes of the Maesgwyn stopper. As the
first half wore on Trinity managed to get a swift 2 goal lead but the Maesgwyn
frontline kept them on their toes and we went into the break with the score
stood stubbornly 2 – 0. Into the second half and Maesgwyn created some
early chances before the strength of the Trinity midfield came to the fore and
they quickly extended their lead further. As the game neared its conclusion
Maesgwyn got themselves on the score sheet which was just as their effort
deserved but it wasn’t enough to prevent Trinity Fields being crowned
champions to the joy of their players.
onto the Champions League Final and it was YBC who took an early
lead through versatile midfielder Luke Wiley’s low powerful shot. The
boys from Bridgend quickly extended their advantage to 2 before Bro
Dinefwr found their feet causing some trouble for the YBC backline. It
was only goalkeeper Leon Buckley’s superb efforts between the YBC
sticks that was preventing Bro Dinefwr getting themselves on the
score sheet as they tried their hardest to get back into the contest. As
the game wore on YBC’s strength in depth started to show and they
extended their advantage and the boys in white and blue began to
feel their name being etched into the trophy. Bro Dinefwr continued
to fight valiantly to the last and made sure YBC did not have it all their
own way. As the final whistle blew the entire YBC team flooded the
field to congratulate their teammates and to thank their opponents
for the contest. Whilst in the other game it was only a late strike from
Hendrefelin that prevented a penalty shootout and got them the final
step on the podium.
Written by Ryan Dummer (Ysgol Bryn Castell)
Recent Comments