On Saturday 21st May, Hanova hosted the 7th Xi’an International Schools Football Tournament on a FIFA standard football pitch. We were delighted to have XIS and XLIS visit us to compete.

After a very brave performance our Hawks went down 2-0 to a very strong XIS team in their first game. XIS went onto defeat XLIS meaning that the final game with XLIS left both teams needing a win to secure qualification for the final match.

In an outstanding team performance, the Hawks ran out 4-1 winners after a “braces” from Edan Hernandez-Day and Elijah Smith. This meant that the final game was set up against XIS. Despite going behind on 2 occasions the Hawks fought back to level the game thanks to Steven Jiang on both occasions. However, the efforts of the day took its’ toll on our very young squad and 2 late goals from XIS saw them run out 4-2 winners.

Congratulations to Vincent Gibbs and Elijah Smith who earned nominations for the all-star team but also a special mention to goalkeeper Noah Smith who pulled off some outstanding saves throughout the tournament. With such a young squad the footballing future at Hanova is potentially a very bright one!