With the sun beaming down and 180 eager children ready to play, it was bound to be a fantastic day.

Eighteen schools from Inverclyde selected their teams to compete in the 7-a-side tournament. The grounds at Notre Dame High provided the perfect backdrop with 4 pitches ready for action bright and early at 9:30am.

The competition was fierce with all the kids giving their all and producing some fantastic football on the field. In the end, it came down to St Ninian’s from Gourock facing off against St Joseph’s from Greenock. With both teams determined to win, it was a nail-biting match. St Joseph’s managed to come out on top, scoring a goal fitting to win any cup final. Despite St Ninian’s throwing everything but the kitchen sink to get back on terms, St Joseph’s defended stoutly and withheld the late pressure to claim victory.

Craig Mullan, the Active Schools representative, shared his excitement about the event, stating: “It was amazing to see so many children participating on such a beautiful day. Thanks to our partnership with Cloch Housing Association free transportation was provided. This made a huge difference in making the tournament accessible to all Inverclyde schools.

“Seeing the children enjoying themselves and being active is what we aim to do at Active Schools, so we were really pleased with how it went. It was also a really nice touch for all the kids to have their participation recognised by getting a medals at the end. Congratulations to St Joseph’s on their victory.”

Stephen McGachy, the coach and nurture teacher at St Joseph’s, expressed his pride in the team: “The entire day was fantastic! Thanks to Active Schools and Cloch for supporting our kids at St Joseph’s and the kids throughout Inverclyde by organising the event. The tournament had an extra special touch with the medals and trophy too. The team’s victory was celebrated with a special assembly at St Joseph’s, and the trophy is now proudly displayed at the school.”

Michael Monaghan, director of customer services and communities, added: “A primary objective for Cloch is to engage with our tenants and the wider Inverclyde community – both young and old - in a positive way. The Cloch Cup is a great opportunity for us to do this, building our relationship with the local schools, our younger people and Active Schools who do incredible work here in Inverclyde.

“The Association was delighted to play our part in facilitating the tournament and look forward to making this an annual event! Thank you to all the participants, the school staff who brought the kids along and of course Active Schools who enabled the day to run as well as it did. Finally, a big well done to St Joseph’s for their victory… the winning goal was one Messi would have been proud of.”