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[Black cat]

Oh alright then...

Tournament report by IAIN COCHRANE

With apologies if I’ve spelt your name wrong, invented you, missed you out altogether or fictionalised events.

Mini World Cup - 21/10/2007
U.K. Lions 1 – Sri Lanka Police 1 (Final)
(Sri Lanka Police win 4 - 3 on sudden death penalties)

Cops rob U.K. Lions after controversial penalty decision.

After the disappointment of yet another cancelled Saturday match due to the bad weather, conditions looked as though they might just behave themselves as Sunday dawned and a very well organised mini World cup competition got under way. Recognition should be levelled at our friends the Koreans for a job well done. A nice little stadium with a well tended pitch and just a suggestion of some light rain combined to create near-perfect conditions for a day’s footy. Oh, and just so you know the Lions are now the proud owners of a brand new Latin motto. With the blessing of both Manager and Captain I give you…OBSIDO SUPERBIA – TAKE PRIDE. (Pride…Lions…geddit?)

6 nations, 2 pools.

Pool A: Korea, Japan and Maldives.
Pool B: China, England and Sri Lanka.

Each game comprised of two 15 minute halves and England kicked off their campaign against an unknown Chinese team who, for my money, picked up the prize for “coolest strip”. Mind you, that’s all they picked up as they crashed out at the first hurdle but not before giving England a bit of a scare. They weren’t backward in coming forward and had the first shot on goal which was saved well by stand-in keeper John. The match ended goalless but England picked up a valuable point at China’s expense by forcing more corners.

This was a slow and unsteady start by our usual standards. Let me see now…..how could this be? Could it be the A.M. kick-off? Could it be that most of us were leathered in POETS watching the rugby on Saturday night? And don’t forget that bug that’s going around!

Any road up, the sternest test of the day came in the form of our second and final group game against favourites Sri Lanka Police who, I’m told, had a couple of ex-internationals in their line-up. Fair’s fair I suppose as England were fielding a couple of ringers of their own. Not least Rob Begley. Any doubts as to his U.K. citizenship were magnified a million-fold by his own hand when he picked a fight with a copper! Only an Irishman...

Laurent and, more amazingly, Kaz somehow also sneaked under the radar and did I hear a couple of Antipodean accents? ‘Nuff said!

The game started well though with England going 1 – 0 up on 4 minutes thanks to a headed own goal which may sound fortunate but was effectively forced by some good pressure down the right. But then back they came. They equalised soon after and put the game to bed after the break with two more goals to seal a convincing 3 – 1 victory.

They also triumphed in their opener against China which meant that we had progressed to the semis without scoring a single goal. Funny old World cup innit!

After lunch the first semi between Sri Lanka and Korea took place and it was Sri Lanka who cruised into the final by a convincing score line.

With the advantage of a longer rest, England took on our old mates from Maldives. We have a mixed and unpredictable history against this side which contained a few familiar faces, not least Hashim who has a much feared right foot.

Jack came closest to opening up the scoring with a perfectly judged free-kick from the corner of the area but, somehow their keeper defied all logic by getting across his goal line to finger-tip the ball over the bar.

Towards the end of the game the England off-side trap was finally sprung and Seaman had no option but to come out of his box to deal with the threat. Sadly, he dealt with it in a Bruce Lee style and was immediately dismissed by the ref who had a clear view. With two keepers now banned or absent, Andy stepped into the breach and pulled off a brilliant save in the dying minutes to keep things level. Despite the incident-o-meter going off the scale it ended goalless and penalties were to decide the matter.

3 penalties were awarded to both teams but Maldives contrived to miss the target with their first. Julian, Furrukh and Jack however, made no mistake and England progressed on to the final.

The play-off to decide 3rd and 4th place gave England and Sri Lanka a chance to catch their breath. The match ended all square and after penalties failed to provide a result, the matter was decided by the toss of a coin (I sh*t you not!). Well done Maldives for coming third. Korea, close but no cigar!

After the pomp of the pre-match ceremony and hand-shakes, England and Sri Lanka squared up to each other for the second time to contest a final which, as Jack pointed out, we had absolutely no right to be a part of.

England had improved with every game and it showed. We had lost a number of players during the course of the day to injury, illness and fatigue and we were down to the bare bones but we were showing some industry going forward and were coping confidently at the back despite being under the cosh for extended periods of the game.

In the closing minutes of the first half, England were awarded a free-kick in Jack territory and he duly delivered by floating a beauty into the top left hand corner of the Sri Lankan net.

The crowd went nuts which was nice. It’s good to know that the crowd are on your side whatever the reason.

At half-time we were sure that the day would be ours.

The second half turned into a constant bombardment on the English goal with Sri Lanka going close on many occasions. One bullet header was surely on its way in until Andy halted its progress with a brilliant headed goal line clearance. Then with a minute to go, disaster! Brian and a freshly re-instated Seaman launched a double edged attack on a threat down the Sri Lankan left which resulted in a multiple player pile-up and a hugely questionable penalty. Seaman was allowed to remain on the pitch but could do nothing to stop the well taken spot-kick.

It ended 1 – 1 and here we go again with the penalties. This time, both teams put away 3 of their 5 allotted spot-kicks and it fell to the keepers to test each other. Their guy scored, ours didn’t.

Some of us may have felt robbed, some of us may feel lucky to have got as far as we did but regardless to the outcome, we all had an enjoyable and truly memorable day. With R/s 20,000 behind the bar at Cheers, I doubt if anyone can remember much of the evening though so well done everyone. The squad, the support and the ladies penalty team who bagged 3 out of 3.

Well done also to Liam who picked up the Player of the Tournament award for busy day down England’s right hand side.

England squad: John, Andy A, Rich (Capt.), Laurent, Kaz, Iain C, Liam (P.o.T), Mesh, Seaman, Steve H (V.Capt.), Simon, Jack (1), Brian, Rob, Robert, Peter, Julian, Furrukh,

[STEVE.H]

:D Well done boys! It's great to pick up some silverware...or was it plastic gold? Anyway, let's get ourselves in some more tournaments so that we''l be forced to build a trophey cabinet.

[Furrukh]

Good commentary mate, well done for doing this, i know it takes time and good on you for putting in the effort. Also i love your style, especially the comic gems e.g. "Sadly, he dealt with it in a Bruce Lee style and was immediately dismissed by the ref" - nice one, i know i want Seaman in my side if we get in a fight,

Furrukh