Football Tournament
Saturday 04 July 2009 at 12:00
Private Banks Sports Ground, Canadian Avenue, London, SE6 4SW
On a beautiful summer’s day on the 4th July 2009, 14 teams gathered to take part in the SIAS 5 – a –side Football Tournament.
There were three qualifying groups with the top teams in the groups progressing to the Champions Shield knockout tournament while the remaining teams entered the Intertoto cup.
The fans were spoiled in the group stages with 102 goals scored, an average of 3.92 goals scored per game- a reflection of the high quality of attacking football rather than any poor defending I think.
In group 1, PWC BBB, Net Assets from Watson Wyatt, and ‘AIMS not to come last’ from PWC topped their group with the final positions being settled on goal difference.
While in group 2, Athletico Pathetico from Hewitt and Real Sun Alliance were stunned by what hit them in group stages with Hyman Robertson FC and Orangeboom Metrostars taking the top spots.
Group 3 was another tightly contested group where AON, Team Ignite from Prudential and Team X prevailed. The teams who qualified for the Champions Shield were without doubt the best in their groups.
In the Intertoto cup, The Intractable Prophet Dragons, despite wanting to get to the pub as soon as possible, kept on winning their way to the final of the tournament. While Big gAIM players and Real Sun Alliance competed for the other final spot. After a 2-2 draw the game went to penalties, and the Big gAim players lived up to their name, held their nerve and made it to the final. However after the excitement of the semi-finals, the Intractable Prophet Dragons showed the Big gAim players how it was done with a 4-0 victory in the final. This gave The Intractable Prophet Dragons, from SunGuard, something to celebrate in the pub afterwards.
As for the Champions Shield, this was developing into an exciting tournament as the teams strove hard to be the first to win the new SIAS trophy. The commitment of the teams was well illustrated during a tense and heated quarter final between PWC BBB and Team Ignite with PWC BBB coming out on top. In the end though, Hyman Robertson FC and Orangeboom Metrostars successfully made it to the final. With Hyman Robertson FC winning 3-2 earlier in the group stages, Orangeboom Metrostars were out for revenge. On the other hand, Hyman Robertson were desperately keen for victory, as they had previously been unsuccessful in the last 3 finals and were hoping this was going to be their year.
However it seemed that the pressure was too much for them and Orangeboom Metrostars, from Barnett Waddingham, stormed to a 5-0 victory. Better luck to Hyman Robertson FC next year and congratulations to Orangeboom Metrostars.
A special mention goes to Bobby from Hyman Robertson FC who was named player of the tournaments by the referees.
We hope all the teams had a good time and we are looking forward to next year’s event.
Iain Ritchie