This year’s ‘Eat my Goal’ competition attracted the biggest crowd ever in its eleven year history. Organised by the Friends of saltash.net community school as an annual fundraiser, the staff versus parents football match is always a very popular community event, but this year, a combination of unseasonably warm weather and the players’ sporting reputations, brought supporters out en masse!
Thanks to the generosity of Saltash’s Kimberley Stadium management team, the school has been fortunate over the years to play its fundraising matches in a proper stadium. The school is also indebted to Plymouth Argyle for the loan of their ‘home and away’ football kit and to Friary Mill for the donation of 200 pasties which helped to ensure that supporters did not return home hungry!
The large crowd which gathered was certainly not disappointed in the match itself. The full 90 minutes saw an exciting game unfold, resulting in a 5-2 victory for the staff on this occasion, Mr Carlton Farnham, Mr James Edwards, Mr Fionn Magnusson and Mr David Jolly being the scorers for the staff.
Speaking after the event, Assistant Head and ‘Gaffer’ for the staff team, Brendan Lee, said, ‘The teachers once again pulled out all the stops for another momentous victory. It’s always nice to see teachers making their first appearances in this fixture. Our debutants this year, Nigel Lutey and David Jolly, were exceptional as was Adam Killeya with his first ever game outfield. It’s always a superb evening with a great community spirit. However, this year was particularly successful and the team commented on the high quality support from the students as well as the ‘feel good’ factor on the pitch from both teams.’
Headteacher, Mrs Bryce added, ‘Eat my Goal is always a hugely enjoyable community event. The commentary by Mr Romain and Mr Rowe is very entertaining and as much a key part of the event as the football itself. I would like to thank the Friends of School for all their hard work in organising the event, as well as the help we were given by our ICT support team. It was excellent to hear that a total in excess of £1,000 had been raised for Friends of School funds as their big project this year is the installation of a brand new audio sound system in our main school hall.’