The Year 11 football team from Norton Hill School, Midsomer Norton, have kept the dream alive of becoming National Champions; they are now into the quarter-finals of a competition that started with 544 teams.
A terrific win in the last 32, away at Torquay Academy – a 5-3 win where Gould scored all five goals – meant that they moved into the last sixteen. This was to get better as, on Friday, Norton Hill progressed into the last eight of the ESFA Premier League Schools Cup, with a 4-2 win over Dr Challenor Grammar School from Buckinghamshire.
The rain made for very tricky conditions, and after finding themselves 2-0 down inside three minutes, they faced an uphill task. A composed strike from Sawyer just before half-time made it 2-1, giving hope that the comeback was on and they weren’t finished there.
Norton Hill dominated the second half with a terrific performance – goals from Gould and Bird put them in front and a solid header from Haines made it 4-2. They could have been further in front, with Gould hitting the post. Going into the last fifteen minutes, Dr Challenor threw everything at Norton Hill but couldn’t break them down, with Norton Hill progressing to the quarter-finals, where they will face either Maidstone Grammar School or Whitgift School.