There were plenty of goals in three home matches for Croydon Schools' Football Association District teams on Saturday morning.

The under-13s turned in the most impressive result with a 5-0 verdict over Waltham Forest in a London Schools' FA Gill Cup first round tie at Powerleague, Norbury.

The under-11s also produced an outstanding performance when they rebounded after being 3-0 down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Mid-Sussex in a friendly match at Croygas.

However, the under-15s had no answer to the form of neighbours Bromley Schools when they crashed to a disappointing 6-2 defeat in the second round of the English Schools' Football Association's Inter-Association Wizards Trophy at Crystal Palace's training ground at Beckenham on Saturday morning.

A superb hat-trick by Marc Elston (Edenham) was the highlight of under-13s' convincing 5-0 win.

It took the Croydon striker less than three minutes to put Croydon ahead, rounding two defenders before firing the ball into the back of the net.

Ben Kudjodji (Ashburton) made it 2-0 after 10 minutes when he took full advantage of a rebound off the crossbar from an Elston shot.

Elston made it 3-0 10 minutes after half-time with a shot into the top corner from 18 yards, which Croydon manager David Webb described as "fabulous".

Croydon then brought on all four substitutes, assuming victory was in the bag.

Elston grabbed his hat-trick 10 minutes before the end, scoring from close range and when he was brought down in the penalty area five minutes later, up stepped schoolmate Liam Bowman to convert the penalty and make the final verdict 5-0.

Meanwhile, Bromley Schools under-15s had Croydon under their spell from the moment they scored in the second minute of this English Schools' Football Association's Wizards Trophy.

Croydon were at full stretch for long periods and had the job ahead when Bromley made it 3-0 when Tom Carter applied a smooth finish two minutes before the interval.

But Croydon stormed back, scoring the best goals of the match and for the briefest of periods, they looked to have Bromley worried with the score at 3-2.

Joshuah Findlater (Woodcote) played a part in both Croydon goals. First he crossed from the right and Arnold Sarfo-Kantanka scored with a close-range header and two minutes later he crashed the ball into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.

But that was the end of the charge and Bromley ended the rout when Carter completed his hat-trick in making the final score 6-2, four minutes from the end.

And a great fightback earned Croydon Schools' under-11s a draw in an entertaining friendly at Croygas.

They fought back from a 3-0 deficit to earn a draw. Croydon goalscorers were Jonathan Docherty (Oval School) with a brace and Michael Forbes (St Mark's). Croydon finished well on top and looked capable of snatching an unlikely victory, only to be beaten by the full-time whistle.

October 23, 2001 17:00