A VILLAGE football team were aiming for an astonishing quadruple of trophies this week after qualifying for the finals of a national competition.
Horrabridge Rangers SA Under 14s have qualified for the nationals finals of the futsal championships after seeing off rival teams from across the South West and Midlands in the regional competiton in Wolverhampton on Sunday.
They are already champions of the Grenville division of the Devon Junior & Minor league after being unbeaten this season and reached the finals of two cup competitions, winning one and hoping for another.
The Rangers won the Under-14 George Yabsley Memorial Cup to their growing trophy cabinet on Tuesday night, when they faced Saltash United Juniors at Erme Valley, Ivybridge.
And on Saturday, they will play Topsham Town Tigers at Newton Abbot in the final of the Scott Richards Under 14 youth cup.
Rangers’ manager Richard Bills said: ‘We are up for a quadruple of trophies, which is fantastic. We’ve won every one of our league games – 15 from 15 so far, which I think is the first time that has happened.
‘We are champions, but we’ve got a few games left, so we are hoping to go through the season unbeaten.’
Meanwhile, the Rangers are heading off for the futsal finals at the University of Wolverhampton between June 18 and 19.
The game, which originated in South America and emphasises creativity and skill, is related to five-a-side football.
Bills said: ‘I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had a core of players since they have been eight and they’ve come through together. It’s been a great season for them.’
Club secretary Ian Mulholland said he felt the village side, who draw on players from Horrabridge and the surrounding areas such as Yelverton, were punching above their weight.
He said: ‘We’ve never got to the national futsal finals before, so we are punching well above our size category.
‘We’re exceptionally proud of the lads because they are a great bunch of kids. It’s unusual for a club to have so many of them coming through at the same time, but that is what has happened. A lot of them go to school together, which helps.’
Mulholland said there would be accommodation and fuel costs involved in getting the team, club officials and parents to the futsal finals next month and asked any supporter who could help with them by chipping in some cash to contact him via [email protected]