Grafton 6-0 William Ford

GRAFTON PRIMARY SCHOOL triumphed in the Barking & Dagenham Post Primary School Cup final against William Ford on Thursday afternoon at a packed May & Baker. Forward Daniel Nkrumah scored four times to earn his team a deserved 6-0 victory, but it was a day to remember for everyone involved.

The two schools were part of 33 that started the competition back in October and they had overcome various opponents to reach the big final in front of at least 50 pupils, parents and fans alike.

Strong Start

On a wonderfully hot, sunny day Grafton started strongly and, cheered on by PE Coordinator Alan Geary, took the lead after just three minutes. Nkrumah was under pressure from various William Ford defenders, but showed great composure before toe poking into the top corner. The forward has represented Barking & Dagenham’s district team this season and is on the books of Leyton Orient too, and showed his class early on.

Grafton’s Kye Fisher, another district player, was also having a big say on proceeding early on and went close with a free kick

Shortly afterwards and Fisher was involved as his school doubled their lead following an excellent team move. Fisher started it and Aker Okoie was on hand to finish it and put Grafton two-goals ahead with just seven minutes on the clock.

Way Back In

William Ford regrouped, though, and looked to get a way back into the match and came close on a couple of occasions from set piece opportunities.

However Nkrumah popped up again in the right place at the right time to make it 3-0 just before half time.

Grafton, like they did in the first half, started the second period strongly and had various efforts blocked.

William Ford, urged on by John Harrington, were defending bravely, but again Nkrumah would show his class. He controlled the ball way outside the area and smashed an effort past the goalkeeper and into the top corner to complete his hat-trick. It put Grafton four up and his celebration showed he was understandably delighted with his strike.

However William Ford continued to give everything and battled on, desperate to find a way back into the contest.

Emphatic

A couple of brief attacking moments were ended by Grafton’s solid defence before they managed to score number five themselves. Unsurprisingly it was Nkrumah again on the scoresheet. The Orient youngster skipped past his opponent on the left-hand side and whipped a wonderful ball into the box. William Ford were able to hook clear his centre, but the ball came back in and Nkrumah volleyed emphatically into the top corner again. It was a sensational strike and sent the Grafton players into delirium.

As the game edged into the final 10 minutes, Grafton’s Fisher was continuing to pull the strings. Following a corner kick, he picked out Ormurnie Houston inside the box and he had no problem finding the bottom corner.

Champions

William Ford, despite trailing 6-0, never showed any signs of giving up and continued to try and stop their opponents forward bursts. In the final minute of the match, they nearly got a deserved consolation goal but Grafton were able to stop the danger.

The full time whistle shortly followed to confirm Grafton as Barking & Dagenham Post Primary School Cup champions.

It was a deserved win for Grafton, but William Ford had more than played their part in an excellent final, which was played in a superb spirit with great passing football from both teams involved.

William Ford: Bobby Munday, Tyler Honour, Aron Fana, Wayne Jones, Morayo Popoola, David Ayodele, Harley Marsh, Tommy Brown, Precious Adepoju, Samuel Boadi, Timi Oke, Mohammed Mansour, Luke Tierney.

Report by George Sessions – Barking & Dagenham Post