FLEDGLING footballers got a real kick from a competition staged for players in the under-nines bracket yesterday.

Sixteen teams of eager youngsters took part in the first Durham County Football Club seven-a-side tournament.

The event saw up to four games on the go at any one time on specially marked out pitches at Durham Gilesgate Sports College.

Following two round-robin groups, giving each team seven ten-minute matches, the tension mounted as the top four teams needed extra-time and penalties to settle the semi-finals.

Riverside from Chester-le-Street and the host club's DC Hays team squeezed into the final.

The visiting Riverside team won the trophy, with a 2-0 victory. But every player took home a medal from the competition.

Derrick Gurney, one of the Durham County FC parents who helped to organise the event, said it was real success.

"It's taken a lot of planning and we haven't had time to draw breath, but it's all gone smoothly, like clockwork. We had to stick to a tight schedule, with 15-minute intervals between games to allow the lads to rest, but it just about ran exactly to plan."

Derrick said it was the first such tournament staged by the club, but he hopes it can be repeated in the summer or in mid-season next year.

Durham County FC, based in the Gilesgate and Belmont areas of Durham, was formed seven years ago by parent, Jeff Bowes, and now has 12 teams from under-eights to under-16s levels with 150 players in the flourishing organisation.

The under-nines play in a weekly seven-a-side contest, which is in a mid-season break, so the club decided to maintain enthusiasm by staging the tournament.

Details of the club are available on its own website, on www.communigate.co.uk/ne/dur hamcityf