Tuesday 4th June 2024 S1 Green Final Skills Competition Report by Walter Craig

ASSFA Green Final Trophy S1 Skills 4th June 2024
Report by Walter Craig

The annual Aberdeen Secondary Schools Football Association S1 Skills Competition for which the winner is awarded the prestigious Green Final Trophy with Scottish Football International Kim Little a previous winner, was held, in bright sunlight, at Portlethen Academy on Tuesday 4th June.

The participants are asked to show their abilities in three football disciplines, the first of which is dribbling where they have to see how many cones they can dribble round in sixty seconds. This is followed up by a test of Keepy Ups where three attempts are allowed to see if they can reach sixty Keepy Ups in any one of them. The best score attained is allocated to the player.

The last task is shooting where six cones are placed across the edge of the penalty box and one shot is allowed from each. If the ball goes straight into the net in the air ten points are scored while five are gained if it hits the woodwork or bounces once before crossing the line. Nothing is awarded if it misses the target altogether.

The early morning downpour appears likely to have put doubt into some people’s head regarding the surface being playable, but one can never be really sure with the weather in Aberdeen as conditions were perfect when the proceedings began.

The dribbling skills were very much in evidence from the pupils, particularly Dylan Gillespie from Aberdeen Grammar School, whose score of eighty six saw him race into a sixteen point lead. It must be noted that fifth placed Millar Robertson of Lochside Academy’s sixty points would in previous years would have seen him in the top two or three in this section.

Dylan Gillespie maintained his position in the Keep Ups gaining a maximum of sixty, although he was joined on that tally with fellow Grammar player Dylan Maclean and Fraser Hamilton from Lochside Academy.

A little breeze decided to make things a little more taxing for the shooting competition, but the level of performance did not drop at all. Liam Fleming from Dyce Academy took the honours in this one, scoring fifty five points out of the possible sixty.

It was then time for the keenly awaited results. Millar Robertson was fifth, Liam Fleming fourth and Dylan MacLean third. In spite of Fraser Hamilton gaining one hundred and seventy seven points he had to play second fiddle to the winner, Dylan Gillespie with his score of one hundred and ninety six.

It had been a well contested competition of a high standard. Thanks go to Portlethen Academy for hosting the event and the weather for improving as the day went on.