Tower Hamlets & Hackney schools football team

Local boys defeat Croydon 1-0 in the final

Hackney and Tower Hamlets Schools beat Croydon 1-0 in the Hawke Trophy final last week at the home of Grays Athletic FC in front of a big crowd.

The trophy dates back to the 1960s and is contested for by all the district teams in London and the surrounding counties.

Both districts fielded strong teams in the final, with the Hackney and Tower Hamlets team containing six players who have signed professional contracts with clubs and Croydon playing two England under-16 internationals.

The game was extremely tight, and Hackney keeper Marco Cantar made two fantastic saves to keep the score level at half time.

During the second half, both sides made changes and the east London team started to physically dominate the game, creating many chances.

And with 20 minutes to go, Makhosini Khanye came on to add much-needed pace, setting up captain John Muleba to score the winner five minutes from time.

The east Londoners then sat back bringing on defenders Joel Murdock and Michael Adesete to secure victory.

“I was really pleased with the boys to win such a prestigious competition and be the first district from east London to win the trophy in over 10 years,” said team manager Stewart Brown, from Bishop Challoner school.

“I would like to thank the boys for all their hard work and wish them all the success in their footballing careers.

“On July 1, some of the boys will start as professionals at their clubs – Muleba (Chelsea), Alfred Mugabo (Arsenal), Cantar (Crystal Palace), Gregg Mitchell (Charlton) and Thomas Gogo (West Ham)”.

Hackney and Tower Hamlets (from): Muleba, Adesete, Murdock, Khanye, Nnaji, Arthur, Gogo, Watson, Olatekeum, Charles, Badder, Hinds, McCullock, Mitchell, Cantar, Mugabo.