Old Loughtonians under-18 boys are celebrating after securing their first outdoor National Cup title at Luxborough Lane on Saturday.

It was their first national final since winning the plate title back in 2006 and they made home advantage pay with the event being held at their Chigwell home.

The team came up against Cannock in the semi-finals and the boys controlled the game from the off and were worthy 5-2 winners to set up a final with Beeston.

It was a closely-contested encounter, but the hosts scored either side of the half-time break to put them in the ascendancy.

Beeston pulled one back, before Old Loughts re-established their two-goal cushion, but a fine solo effort from the Beeston captain saw them make it 3-2 with just five minutes to go.

However, the Old Loughts defence held firm to secure their club’s first national title in the Cup competition.

And team manager Jan Lilley couldn’t hide his delight, saying: “To beat Beeston in the final, one of the best teams with five England under-18 players was a great achievement.

“Home advantage was a litle help, but we went in as underdogs and to come away with the top national prize makes me very proud.

“Four or five of them are in and around the first team and that only bodes well for the future of the club.”

The success didn’t end there though as the under-16 girls came back with bronze from their national finals at Wakefield over the weekend.

Firstly they had to come through a group stage and opened up with a 2-2 draw against Team Bath thanks to Tasha Patient’s superb last-gasp equaliser, while Ella Day was also on the scoresheet.

Up next was hosts and eventual winners Wakefield and Loughts lost out 2-0 despite a fine defensive display from Chloe Menear and Lucia Corry.

But the girls came back strongly for the remaining group match on Sunday and a 5-0 win over Banbury earned them the opportunity to play for a bronze medal in the third-place play-off.

Loughts were on top from the off and goals from Emily Holmes and Patient gave them a 2-0 half-time lead, before Holmes, Monika Johal and Day completed the win.

They were up against Kirkby Lonsdale for the bronze and another strong performance resulted in a 3-0 win, with Holmes firing them in front, before a double from Lucy Price.

Under-18 Boys: Burke, Holmes, Watson, Price, G Padfield, J Padfield, A Padfield, B Mortimer, E Mortimer, Kempe, Head, Samuel, Appleyard, McGregor, Madeiros, Kalsi, Sagoo, Seager, Caplan.

Under-16 Girls: Leiper, Menear, Corry, Johal, Wills, Wells, Patient, Joarder, Price, Holmes, Hough, Day, Wroblewski, Evans, Waite.