FINGERS are crossed for our boys in blue as Redbridge reach the volleyball semi-finals of the London Youth Games.

The borough's team won their morning qualifying group this weekend at the Score Centre in Leyton, making it through to the final four of the competition.

The team, all from the Chadwell Heath Foundation School, beat off competition from Barnet, Ealing, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston and Tower Hamlets, but eventually lost in a tense match against group runners-up Kensington and Chelsea.

The Balfour Beatty London Youth Games are the UK’s largest annual multi-sport event, involving all 33 London Boroughs and 26 National Governing Bodies.

The games are free and open to Londoners aged between seven and 17, with more than 30,000 competitors taking part in over 60 events this year.

Commenting on his team’s success Jack Molyneux, Redbridge volleyball coach, said: “We’re really pleased to get through and importantly we saved our best performance for the last game against Kensington and Chelsea.

"I’m especially delighted as a few squad members have moved outside the borough and weren’t eligible. We’re looking forward to the semis.”

Team Captain Nathan Dixon, who has represented UK South and was voted one of the top six players in the country for his age group, added: “We’ve been here before, so we knew it wouldn’t be easy.

"We played well and we’re determined to perform well in the semis.”

The semis and finals will be held at Crystal Palace on July 4 when the Redbridge team will take on neighbours Waltham Forest in the last four .