BBS VI Football League ‘Open’ Tournament (Cup)
13th October 2007 - Manchester
Loughborough Dominate - But No Room For Complacency
On Saturday 13th October 2007 the 2007/2008 visually impaired football season kicked off with the traditional pre-season ‘Futsal’ cup competition held at the Platt Lane Complex in Manchester. The event saw eight of the top VI teams from around the UK take part in a fantastic day’s competition.
The format for the day saw the eight teams split into two mini-leagues, with each team playing the other three sides in their league before the top two teams from each league went forward to play in the semi-finals. The day would come to a thrilling climax with the top two teams competing in a fiercely contested final.
Group 1
Group 1 saw the 2007 National VI League champions, Loughborough Lions A, joined by RNC A, West Bromwich Albion’s B team and Inter Cosmos. At the end of this group stage Loughborough Lions A had shown why they were the class of the field last season having cruised through the group phase, troubled only by some spirited opposition from RNC A and Inter Cosmos.
With two teams to qualify for the semi-finals, the race was on for second place. Inter Cosmos had unfortunately suffered a last minute injury to one of their players and were competing with four players. With both RNC A and Inter Cosmos having beaten West Brom B, the two sides met to decide who would join Loughborough Lions A in the semi-finals. Playing against four players the RNC Manager Dixie Dean was clear with his instructions, RNC needed to keep the ball, draw the Inter players out of position, exploit the space and ‘under no circumstances get caught on the break’. As the final whistle blew on a 3-1 Inter Cosmos victory Dixie retired to the car park for what I’m sure was a calm and measured assessment of proceedings. The group had finished with Loughborough Lions in first place followed by Inter Cosmos, RNC A and West Brom B.
Group 2
Group 2 saw Loughborough Lions B, West Bromwich Albion A, Queen Alexandra College and RNC B come together in a real group of two halves. Loughborough Lions B and West Brom A were clearly the class of the field with the RNC B and QAC teams struggling to prevent the dominance of the other two more experienced sides. Despite this both RNC and QAC competed well and must take a lot of credit for their attitude on the day, and much like the West Brom B team in group 1, will have taken a number of pointers that they can put to good use in the league season ahead.
With Loughborough Lions B and West Brom A destined to make the semi-finals, all that remained would be to see who would win the group. The two sides battled out an entertaining and competitive 2 – 2 draw. Real credit here to the Loughborough lads who, with a number of new faces, showed they will once again be a force to be reckoned with in the new season.
We now had our semi-final line up with Loughborough Lions A playing Loughborough Lions B and West Brom A facing Inter Cosmos. The two Loughborough sides can always be guaranteed to put on a fine show and this was no exception, with their club rivalry proving as fierce as ever. The match finished level after full time and the nerve racing penalty shootout loomed. This fine semi-final was eventually won by Loughborough Lions A 3 – 2 in the penalty shootout, with both teams having put up great battling performances.
The second semi-final saw the four man Inter Cosmos side attempt to roll back the years one last time to take on the West Brom A boys. Although the Inter boys put up a strong fight, the quality of the West Brom outfit came through as the match went on and they eventually ran out 5-2 winners following a very measured and controlled performance.
The Final
West Bromwich Albion A vs Loughborough Lions A was the final everyone wanted to see: the West Brom side contained many of the players who had won the league title in 2006, and the Loughborough boys are the current league champions. The added spice was clear for all to see with the referee certainly having one of his busier games of the day.
The match began at 100 miles an hour with both sides keen to establish early dominance. However, having played such a controlled game in the semi-finals the West Brom lads struggled to maintain the same composure in the heat of this particular battle and Loughborough’s experience enabled them to frustrate and ultimately capitalise on a few small but ultimately significant errors. Loughborough eventually ran out convincing 4-0 winners, but if this game is a sign of things to come we are certainly in for a competitive season.
The day had been a great success and served as a great warm up for the season ahead. The two Loughborough sides had shown their pedigree along with West Brom A. RNC A and Inter Cosmos had also shown enough promise to suggest that with these five teams making up our top division this season we could be in for a real treat as the season unfolds.
Although RNC B, QAC and West Brom B had come up against strong opposition on this occasion they too had shown enough to suggest that the standard of football in our second division this coming year also had the potential to reach new heights and illustrated the strength in depth in the league for 2007/2008.
The VI League season begins on November 10th at the Leyton Orient SCORE complex with these 8 teams joined by sides from Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and South Shields VIFC. Please visit our Events page for more details.