MID-FIELDER Ethan Harker is celebrating after his winning goals helped secure his team a place in the national finals for the first time in its history.
The 16-year-old student at St Aidan’s Academy, Darlington, helped County Durham Schoolboys through the quarter finals with a 2-1 win and scored the only goal in the semis to reach the national finals later this year.
He will also play in the Northern County Final on May 2 in Doncaster against Oxfordshire.
Middlesbrough fan Ethan started playing football when he was just six and models his game on his hero Roy Keane. He has captained Darlington Town and the school team when it won the double when he was in Year 9.
He also plays for Darlington All Stars and is hoping to find a club to begin to live his dream of playing professionally.
“I would love to play for any club, particularly Middlesbrough and England, of course,” he said.
“I am really looking forward to playing in the county and national finals. We have a really good side, very competitive and capable of playing some high quality football.”
St Aidan’s Academy principal Nicole Gibbon said: “Ethan lives and breathes his football and is a fine example of how well you can achieve when you have a passion for something in life. The whole school will be rooting for him in the finals.”
