Nero Jones and Kai Woodhouse scored last-minute winners as Nord Anglia School (NAS) Lions’ Under-10 and Under-11 football sides got their season up and running against Greenfield Community School.
After a month of training, the boys began their quest for glory in the Dubai Affiliated School Sport Association (DASSA) league with some solid individual displays.
Both matches were pulsating encounters neither side deserved to lose but the Lions dug deep to hold out for victory with the U-10s winning 5-4 and U-11s sealing a 3-2 triumph.
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In a thrilling U-10 game, Darius Cassia opened the scoring following a slick finish but Greenfield equalised immediately.
The Lions took a 2-1 lead at half-time after Cassia set up Edward Reynolds to slot the ball home.
Greenfield equalised early in the second half, but the Lions were soon celebrating as Reynolds got his second.
Greenfield levelled for a third time and could have taken the lead if they had converted their chances, but Cassia restored the Lions’ lead. Having leveled three times already, it was no surprise to see Greenfield score their fourth goal.
But the Lions roared one more time and Jones had the final say, powering home deep into stoppage time to seal an amazing victory.
The U-11s soon followed suit. Nicholas Ghantous gave them the perfect start with two quick goals but Greenfield showed their resilience once again as they fought back to level the game at 2-2 at the interval.
The second period was a much tighter affair and Guillaume Castree and Zack Huda defended bravely to stop Greenfield from adding to their tally.
Both sides pressed for the winner and it seemed the game would be heading for a draw but Woodhouse connected with Shahin Ben Salah’s corner from close range to give the Lions all three points.
A special visitor for DESS kids
Following Jake White’s visit to their secondary college, Dubai English Speaking School (DESS) ensured their younger pupils did not miss out on meeting a rugby legend when World Cup winner Joe Roff took charge of a training session last week.
White put Dubai English Speaking College’s Under-19 team through their paces last month and Roff did exactly the same with DESS’ year six team.
The 1999 World Cup winner, in his role as Hurricanes Rugby Club ambassador, trained with 50 boys in their preparation for the BSAK 10’s and Dubai College 7’s tournaments.
The 40-year-old Australian then gave advice on how to deal with defeats and the importance of working hard to achieve targets before answering questions from the boys, who were left in awe.
Student Joe Lear said: “It was really cool to meet Joe Roff.
“He spoke about sportsmanship and what it requires to become a professional rugby player as well as his memories on winning the World Cup in 1999.”
He added: “It was a great experience and something I will remember.”
Roff scored 249 points for the Wallabies in 86 appearances between 1996 and 2004.
Prevot is peerless with three medals at season opener
Artemis-Marie Prevot certainly made a splash in the pool, clinching three medals as Brighton College topped the first ADISSA Swim Championship event of the season.
Beating tough competition from hosts British School Al Khubairat (BSAK), Al Yasmina, GEMS American Academy, British International School Abu Dhabi (BISAD) and Al Bateen, Prevot took gold in the individual 50m freestyle in an impressive time of 30.94 seconds.
Prevot was soon back on the podium after second-place finishes in the 50m and the freestyle relay.
She was one of many swimmers to impress at the championships, and her Brighton College team-mates did enough to edge Al Yasmina and BSAK, who finished second and third placerespectively.
Brighton College’s head coach Ro Baylis was impressed by what he saw.
“The Brighton College swimmers have proved they can challenge the best against Abu Dhabi schools following their success at the first ADISSA Swim Championships at BSAK,” he said.
“We came to the competition with a target to swim as best as we could and if we did that then the medals will look after
themselves.
“All the children certainly put on a good show and can be proud of their efforts.”
