A VILLAGE primary school's football team and their long-time coach reached the national semi-finals on Saturday.

Pupils aged seven to 11 from Ysgol Bryn Clwyd, in Llandyrnog, competed at the Urdd Small Schools Football Finals in Aberystwyth after winning their regional tournament for the second year running.

The squad was joined by their school caretaker and manager Jason Jones, who volunteers weekly to run after-school football practise and has coached youth teams in Llandyrnog for 15 years.

Parents and headteacher Richard Monteiro watched on nervously on the day, however the team played well and made a great comeback in their last group match to win 3-2, qualifying for the quarter-finals. They won again, after a close-fought game 2-1, earning themselves a place among the top four teams in the national tournament.

Despite their efforts, equalising to make it 1-1, the Llandyrnog pupils were unable to reach the final as they were knocked out at 1-2 at the final whistle.

Mr Monteiro said: "It has been many years since a Denbighshire team has progressed as far as the semi-finals.

"Myself and Mr Jones are extremely proud of the team's effort."