YOUTH FOOTBALL: MORE than a thousand youngsters descended on Matravers School, Westbury, for a feast of football to rival events in Portugal.

Westbury Youth FC's annual six-a-side tournament saw over 190 teams battle it out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with entries coming from as far afield as Devon.

Organisers hailed the level of sportsmanship from players and spectators and hope the event will spark an influx of new players for the coming season.

The games of four or five minutes each way meant few matches resulted in goal fests, but none were tighter than the final of the under 12 boys' competition.

A local derby in every sense of the word saw Trowbridge Town defeat Trowbridge Wanderers on penalties.

From under seven to under nine level the competition took the form of football 'festivals'. All players received medals for taking part and the emphasis was on fair play rather than winning.

But the tournament hotted up in the under 10 age group where Bristol Rovers edged out Trowbridge Wanderers. The under 11 final saw Bristol Rovers lift the trophy and Ashdown from Corfe Mullen won the under 13s contest.

YMCA Pumas from Cheltenham were the victors in the under 14 competition, defeating a strong Frome Town A side in the final.

Trowbridge Town gained their second trophy of the weekend in the under 15 event when their A side defeated Chippenham Town.

The under 14s girls' event was won by Swindon Town A, who beat Swindon Town B in the final.

With sponsorship flooding in from businesses ranging from Persimmon Homes to Chantry TV and Quick Print in Westbury, the tournament has become a big event for the town.

Committee member and coach Amanda Banham said: "This was the biggest football tournament in the area and shows just how healthy grass roots football is.

"It also gives the community a chance to praise the good behaviour and enthusiasm of hundreds of youth players.

"We had thousands of people come and watch including an awful lot from the local community. It was pretty packed so we were hard pushed to find enough parking space."

This year saw the tournament take on an increased catchment area as local teams rubbed shoulders with colleagues from Gloucestershire, Avon and Somerset and Devon.

Banham said: "We even had prizes to give out from Chessington World of Adventures who were interested because of the wide area the teams came from.

"We've been playing further afield this year and it does encourage other teams to come and support us.

"Most of the games were four or five minutes each way and it was quite fast and furious. We had some very tight games and a couple of semi-finals went to golden goals.

"All the players were extremely well behaved and we had no problems at all with the spectators. We had a fantastic atmosphere and just one rain shower.

"It's nice to be able to say well done to the youngsters when you often hear about a lot of problems they cause."

Westbury Youth FC is registering new players for next season at 6.30pm on July 19 at Westbury Junior School.

Banham said: "New members in every age group are welcome. Up to the age of 11 girls play in the same group as boys so the more the merrier."

For more information contact club chairman Tony McDonald on (01373) 824880.