LITLINGTON Athletic Football Club hosted a double-header of tournaments over the weekend to mark the start of a new era for the club.

There have been many changes for them over the summer – a new chairman in Ian Ruggles, a new committee and new manager have all been put into place.

Saturday’s curtain raiser was the annual 11-a-side competition, which was hotly contested by Fowlmere, Meppershall, Therfield and a Litlington Athletic side led by new manager Marco Lorenzetto. After six games of 30 minutes, the young and well-organised Meppershall shone through finishing top of the league to be crowned champions.

Litlington continued their promising pre-season form to finish second with Fowlmere close behind in third and Therfield taking home the wooden spoon.

New for 2011 was a five-a-side tournament and fun day the following day which was attended by many spectators from local villages to cheer on their respective teams, while also taking advantage of the great weather and facilities on offer.

Teams from Sawston, Barkway, Barley, Fowlmere, Guilden Morden, Litlington, Bassingbourn and Royston in addition to special teams representing Bullards, The Crown and a swan song from disbanded Sunday football side the Jolly Boys, challenged each other in four groups over three pitches with eight sides progressing from the groups into the knock-out stages.

It was during the knock out stages that Royston Town’s quality became clear, culminating in a closely-fought final between Royston Town ‘A’ and Royston Town Youth, with the more experienced elders shading it 1-0.

The evening ended with Royston Town ‘A’ lifting the trophy and a local band playing out until early evening. Litlington Athletic would like to thank everyone who made the event such a success, including all the football teams and the referees, the local businesses including a special mention to The Crown at Litlington for offering a BBQ and refreshments and Bullards Grounds Maintenance for preparing the pitches.

Litlington Athletic play on Saturday afternoons in Cambridge Division 4A and train on Thursday evenings between 7-8pm at Bassingbourn Village College astro pitch and are always interested in hearing from players who wish to join our squad for the upcoming season. Anyone interested should contact Marco on 07816757824.