A DELIGHTED Mardy Juniors FC have been named as the lucky winners of the £1,000 Vodafone Community Connection Award promoted by The Abergavenny Chronicle.

The club used the award to continue to develop the footballing skills of the young players and reward players' achievements at its annual presentation evening.

A sunny Sunday afternoon at Llantillio Pertholey included five-a-side football, barbecue, refreshments, and the traditional 'coaches vs players' match (won for the first time in years by the coaches). There was also a raffle with a wealth of fantastic prizes kindly donated by many local business as well as parents and friend of the club.

This year also saw the introduction of the Vodafone Fair Play Award, given to a player in each age group who has shown commitment, enthusiasm, and sportsmanlike conduct throughout the season.

The winners on Sunday were Oliver Shooter (under 7s), Daniel Woollard (under 8s), Joe Barnes (under 10s), Sam Evans (under 11s), Luke Turner (under 12s), Max Hawkins (under 13s), Ben Allcock (under 14s), and Liam Robinson (under 15/16s). The event was a fitting way to end another fine season of football.

Other award categories included Most Improved Player, (Alex Shearman, under 7s, Sam Shooter, under 8s, Ethan Ross, under 10s, Leighton Melia, under 11s, Connor Faulkner, under 12s, Alex Robinson, under 13s, Dylan Watkins, under 14s, Owen Batchelor, under 15/16s).

Players' Player (Harrison Trinder/Cameron Harris, under 7s, Evan Howells, under 8s, Alex Long, under 10s, Dylan White, under 11s, Jacob Brinn, under 12s, Eddie Watkins, under 13s, Oscar Price, under 14s, Taezer Woodhouse, under 15/16s) and Coaches Player of the Year (Samed Saritag, under 7s, Danny Hemmings, under 8s, Luke Deacon, under 10s, Shaun Edwards, under 11s, Tom Barnes, under 12s, Corey Gilchrist, under 13s, Connor Lewis, under 14s, Rhodri Jones, under 15/16s).

Tom Evans of Abergavenny's Vodafone store added, "Congratulations to Mardy Juniors FC. There is clearly a real passion for the club in Abergavenny and its supporters. We are very happy to be able to support them as well. We wish Mardy Juniors great success in the future."