High flying Croydon Schools' U11s came down to earth with a bang on Saturday when they took part in the English Schools' FA's south-east stage of the Adidas Predator Premier seven-a-side competition at Walthamstow.
Croydon whose 11-a-side squad have won all 17 of their matches this season failed to adapt to the artificial pitch.
With a record of only two wins, Croydon were only able to finish third in their group of six district sides.
The boys got off to a good start, winning 1-0 against Hackney (inner London).
But then they lost 2-1 to Lewes (Sussex), drew 0-0, against Newham (Essex) and lost 2-0 to Chiltern & South Bucks.
But Croydon finished with a flourish, winning 4-0 against Peterborough with Kieran Gibbs scoring an impressive hat trick.
Croydon squad: McLellan, Ashton (Greenvale), K Gibbs, J Gibbs, Williams (all Duppas), Kavanagh (St James the Great), Jack Walker (Monks Orchard), Hills, Page (Whitgift).
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