Before our men’s team earned themselves a 3-1 victory on Monday, Brookburn Road – or rather, our training pitches on Hardy Farm beside it – was privileged to host the inaugural West supporters’ 7-a-side tournament. Organised by fan Tom Hostler, 5 teams (Windsor Wanderers, West Bank Ultras, Dutch Uncles, Krombacher Ultras, and Chorlton Casuals) battled it out over the course of 4 games for the right to appear in a showpiece final. The tournament itself had everything – especially clean sheets. Given the success of this test event, the club will be looking at hosting something similar over the Easter Bank Holiday, hopefully with a much expanded format.
We got organiser (and eventual winner) Tom Hostler to give us a round-up of the days events:
Final:
Windsor Wanderers 1 – 0 Dutch Uncles (AET)
(0-0 FT)
Although Dutch Uncles could rightfully claim that they had the better of it in normal time, the game went to extra time with neither side breaking the deadlock. With penalties looming and both sides tiring, it was the Wanderers who managed to unlock the opposition defence – a ball forward finding the run of George, who left keeper Sam – who had yet to concede – with no chance as he belted home, earning his side the trophy by doing so.
Group stage final table:
Group Stage results:
Team Summary:
Krombacher Ultras
Despite conceding the most goals in the tournament, they managed to finish 3rd overall thanks to a good win over Chorlton Casuals. They were dangerous going forward, Matt Durrant knitting together their play with some clever flicks, turns, and touches that fuelled their willing attackers. The defence also did well but the team lacked a strong presence in midfield which left them open to counterattacks.
Chorlton Casuals
A scratch team made mostly of otherwise unaffiliated West fans, they were unlucky not to end up with more than a point. Tom Geoghegan’s trickery up front combined with some real strength and power in midfield caused several teams problems, and they were ably supported by Xavi Heras’ clever play and distribution. Unfortunately, the team did not really have the cohesiveness to dominate games and were undone by some good individual goals from the other teams.
West Bank Ultras
The 0-0 specialists of the tournament, although they will probably be disappointed to not finish higher than they did. Only conceding one goal the whole tournament, they were the hardest team to play against. Pacy wingers were fed by Rich Stewart’s technique and creativity in midfield and the team were protected by the maverick goalkeeper Tommy between the sticks. Their only problem was a lack of clinical finishing in front of goal, being unable to find the back of the net in any of their matches, despite creating a wealth of chances.
Dutch Uncles
Strong, well-organised, and with Pete Broadhead’s pace up front they were a dangerous opposition. Moved the ball quickly into the channels and played some good football, they were also lively in the challenges and defended well. Didn’t concede a goal in the group stages and were unfortunate to lose a final that they probably edged in terms of possession and attacking play.
Windsor Wanderers
Had the benefit of regularly playing together competitively and weren’t afraid to resort to their usual tactic of pitch-length long throws forward from goalkeeper Jonny Daggett. Windsor defended energetically man-to-man and were hard to break down, and strikers Rhys and George took their chances well, including a cracking top-corner finish from George in extra time to win the tournament for the Wanderers.
All at the club would like to thank Tom and all those who got involved to organise the event, as well as our referee on the day who made sure each side stuck to the rules of the game. News on the next tournament will be posted on our website sometime in the new year.
