Wigan school football team reaches the last eight of a prestigious national tournament

Youngsters from St Peter’s RC High will travel to Brooke House College in Leicestershire for the next fixture and are one of only eight teams left from the 686 who entered in the Under-15s competition.

St Peter’s beat St Francis Xavier’s College 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the last 16, with Andrew Gordon scoring the decisive penalty after Josh Rothwell equalised in the second half.

Their victory over the Merseyside outfit was their seventh so far in a demanding cup run that has seen them score 14 goals.

Coach Matt Seddon said: “A lot of credit should go to the lads. They’ve done unbelievably well. All of our boys were really brave.

“We had to have a game plan against them with so many talented footballers: absorb the pressure, let them have possession, and try and hit them on the counter.”

The hosts went down 1-0 in the opening minutes but a man-of-the-match performance from goalkeeper Joe Draper, who produced around 15 saves, kept the score close.

Then, after the break, Rothwell bounced on a rebound to restore parity against a gifted team who had two Liverpool academy players in their ranks.

Louise Fitzpatrick, Callum Shaw, Nick Hassan, Jake Seddon and Gordon all kept their cool in a tense penalty shoot-out for a team showing a lot of promise.

Coach Seddon said: “They started off very well as Year 7s just before Covid. The first full season they’ve had since then was their Year 9 season when they won the league and won the Wigan and Leigh Cup.

“We like to play our own style of football, keeping possession. We have an extra midfielder in there and the wingers are very good trying to hit them in behind the full-backs. They’re a very competent team and they’re very good at keeping possession against the majority of teams.”

Could they go all the way? Seddon, like many football managers, won’t overpromise. “We’ll take it one game at a time.”

The quarter-final clash takes place on February 28.