CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT - 2011 - DAY REPORT
17th June 2013
Champion of Champions Tournament – Sheffield 2011
Saturday 18 June saw 30 teams converge on Sheffield for the chance to be crowned the top 6 aside team in the country. Sheffield University provided the field of dreams; seven of Champion Soccer’s finest officials came to keep order. Not even the rain could dampen the glamour of the Polish WAGS pitchside, putting those from the famous Essex to shame!
As is often the case teams who come with strong reputations from their leagues are put to the sword early doors, including last season’s winners Gav’s Galacticos (Grimsby) who faced a tough group and were subsequently dumped out of the competition in the early group rounds. The Elephants, last years Southern area finalists were also a big name to fall early. Being sent home with their “trunks”, between their legs. Madhouse (Sheffield) made a blistering start putting 4 goals past their first two opposition. All eyes were quickly on them as word spread about the powerful attacking force!
The competition seemed tighter than in previous years, with so many teams drawing their opening fixtures with the bottom pitches seeing 5 draws out of the first six matches! Nobody wanted to go home early, especially Top Flight from (Essex) who wanted to stay as long as possible!
One of the biggest cheers went up for 5 men and a woof (Bingham-Nottingham) when they finally scored a goal in the last minute of their last match. Both Essex teams were also sent home early, with Real Punters and FC Tamsin finding the Essex accent very amusing, quizzing them about “The only way is Essex” all day!
As the knock out stages started to take shape there wasn’t a lot to separate the final 16 teams remaining. Madhouse were the team to avoid having impressed during the group stages but FC Tamsin (Failsworth), Polonia Doncaster (Doncaster), Young Boys and Albion Mills (Ossett) were also coming into the final stages with a good reputation as good footballing sides!
Game of the last 16 saw The Bulls Shed (Blackburn) Vs Inbetweeners (Lincoln). The Bulls Shed came in the later stages in fine form having not been beat in their cup matches. Both teams fought out a tight contest which resulted in the game going all the way to penalties, eventually Inbetweeners came out victorious with all spectators applauding a brilliant end to end game.
Rough Diamonds (Skipton) showed fitness was not a problem with their 6 man squad progressing to the last 8, Albion Mills continued their strong display by seeing off the Royals (Oxford) comfortably 5-2 while FC Tamsin always looked in control against Sporting Dingo’s (Oxford).
As the tournament reached the business end, legs began to tire and coupled with a down pour saw the ball zipping around a lot faster with no team wanting to give the opposition an early advantage.
Madhouse continued their good showing sending FC Tamsin out in a hard fought battle. The game was billed as one of the games to watch which was evident by the number of spectators and the tight scoreline. Madhouse edging it by a goal to nil. A quite Friday night on the town didn’t seem to affect Real Renarto (Bournemouth), who with their extravagant kit & charismatic manger saw their good form continue as they saw off a strong and organised Polonia Doncaster.
The Semi finals saw Madhouse take on Rough Diamonds and Young Boys play Real Renarto. Unfortunately the legs of the 6 Rough Diamonds lads couldn’t take them far enough with Madhouse chipping the Rough Diamonds keeper from near the halfway line as he pushed the Rough Diamonds forward to no avail.
Real Renarto, being screamed on by there typically Italian manger (a look-a-like to big Phil Scolari), who was becoming somewhat of a crowd pleaser, saw off Young boys with a well thought out game plan; catching them on the counter attack a couple of times to go through 3-1.
The final was set:- Sheffield V Bournemouth, North V South, Madhouse V Real Renarto. Brent Marsh took charge of officiating the game following an excellent first Tournament from Sheffield. He was accompanied on the lines by Wayne Smith (Rotherham) and Alan Street (Sheffield)
At the start of the day Real Renarto made it clear to the organisers they had come to win, despite being “out cla-bing” the previous night. Madhouse soon took control and went a goal up early on after a fantastic finish from Madhouse, running onto a through ball to chip over the on rushing keeper. As mother nature again gave us the pleasure of more rain, the teams began to make the odd mistake making it a fantastic final to watch.
Real Renarto were pushing forward but home pitch advantage and years of experience proved essential as Madhouse stood firm and took control of the match adding two more goals.
We all knew it was over as the shouting as pacing of the touchline by the Renarto manager slowly stopped. Final score 3-0.
A big thank you to all teams for making it an excellent day for all involved. The referees for the day were Brent Marsh, Chris Cooper, Alan Street & Paul Matthewson (Sheffield), Wayne Smith (Rotherham) Dave Horner (Castleford) and Ben Clark (Preston). All showed why they are held in such high regard in their respective regions, making the strong decisions but offering an approachable style of refereeing keeping within the friendly but competitive feel of the day.
For the chance to enter next year’s competition contact Champion Soccer and we will add you to the list to receive details early next year.
