Soccer: Hillvue Rovers under 10s victorious in Inverell carnival

But in reality, coach Dwayne Marshall knew that his side had what it takes to emerge victorious against the other three competing teams.

"They're a good little team, the majority of them have played together for a couple of years and trained together," Marshall said.

Each was required to play the others twice, for a total of six games. By the end of the weekend, the Rovers had produced a record of four wins, one draw, and one loss.

It was, Marshall said, a victory which made the parents "really proud".

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And while he was thrilled for them, the moment which put the biggest smile on his face came midway through their last game against one of the Inverell sides.

"They only had five players at the end, in a six-a-side comp," Marshall said.

"Midway through the game, one of my kids put his hand up and said 'Can I go and play for the other team, to help them out?'

"He jumped on and actually scored a goal against us."

More than their eventual competition win, Marshall was thrilled to see such good sportsmanship from the children, which was completely unprompted.

As most of the Hillvue players were nine years old, one year under the age limit for the competition, Marshall said the most important takeaway for the group was the knowledge and confidence that they could compete against older kids.

"They play other carnivals, and every Saturday against under 10s," he said.

"So they're getting used to playing against older kids, which is great. It's good for their development, so next year when they're 10, they'll play in the same age group and have more experience."

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