Scholars FC lift inaugural Manchester High seven-a-side title with 2-0 final win

Noah's Scholars FC have been crowned champions of the inaugural Gillette's Auto Sales Manchester High School seven-a-side under-the-lights football competition after a 2-0 victory over QVC in Saturday's final at Manchester High School.

The championship match was keenly contested from start to finish. Denique Darby gave Scholars FC the lead in the first half, and Nicholas Bennett extended the margin after the break. Bennett ended the tournament as its leading goal scorer with 11 goals and also collected the most valuable player award.

Head coach Shane Smalling said the title run was demanding, with his team first securing a 2-1 win in the semi-final earlier in the evening. "Coming into the final, we expected a tough game. Nevertheless, we stick to what we know and we know our opponent. We show them the respect but yet we destroy them," Smalling said.

The competition was organised by the Manchester High School management committee. Principal Jasper Gabriel said the event was intended to deepen football culture at the institution and give players meaningful match experience. "It's helping to strengthen the culture of football in the school. Many of our own players, both past and present, participated in the competition playing for different teams, so they gained valuable experience going through the different rounds and playing with players of a higher quality than they are. It helps to generate more interest around the football and we are hoping to make this bigger and better the next time around, including improving on the lights, and we know that's going to attract a lot more attention," Gabriel said.

Past and present Manchester High players featured across several teams throughout the knockout rounds, facing opposition of varying quality as the draw progressed.

Dwayne Hall earned the competition's top goalkeeper award.