Report by Flt Lt Chris Evans
Striker, Carl Evans scores the winning goal as Brize Norton A team take the title in the men’s cup final and Jenny Withers seals victory for Coningsby/Cranwell over Odiham in the Ladies event at the ESS Festival of Football held at the Powerleague Soccer Dome in Derby. Overcoming a very strong Northolt team, Carl Evans scored the only goal of the game, firing the ball into the bottom left corner with a ferociously driven right foot shot. Commenting on their victory, “It was all down to hard graft by the whole team”, said Carl after a very exciting 12 minutes of action.
In a tightly contested game with a great passing display from both teams, the title could have gone either way with early shots from Northolt’s Danny Bartley, a RAF Men’s senior representative team player, only kept out by an in-form Sgt Perry with some outstanding close range shot shopping. Aided by the Herculean defending of Alex Bolt, Brize held on until the dying moments of the match to clinch the Cup. “Alex is Brize Norton’s Martin Skrtel,” commented Phil Wilmot, Brize’ OIC football, “ Bring on Germany”. The winners go on to represent the RAF in a NATO 5-a-side tournament in the summer.
Before the Cup final, psychological advantage was with Brize, as the 2 teams had already met in the group stages, where Brize Norton were victorious over Northolt by 1 – 0, echoing the final result. However, it could have been a different story for Brize, as earlier in the knockout stages they threw away a 3-goal lead over Cranwell to draw 4 – 4; only just beating them on penalties after a miss from Cranwell’s equalising goal scorer, Tom Butcher. After overpowering local rivals Lyneham in the quarterfinal stage, 2- 0, the semi-final saw Brize routing an indisciplined Wittering side, sending 5 goals past a mainly 4-man team, as Pete Robinson was sin-binned half way through the game for decent. In a “well contested and spirited” match, Brize’ goals came from the boots of Andy Grant and Matt Allen to see them through to the final.
Ladies Cup Final
In the ladies’ cup final, despite a late surge from Odiham, the combined Coningsby and Cranwell team were victorious after a powerful shot from Jenny Withers sneaked under the splaying Odiham keeper. With a team that plays a lot of football together as part of the Sleaford ladies side, Coningsby’s Manager Andy Scurr of 41 Squadron was ecstatic with his team’s performance. “I was nervous going into the game; the standard of ladies football has been exceptionally high this tournament” he commented.
Simone Short accepted the Ladies trophy from Ray Innes, representing ESS, the RAF FA’s main sponsor and sponsor of the annual Festival of Football. “We [ESS] have enjoyed a good relationship with the RAF and wider defence for a while and it’s great to sponsor such a worthwhile event” said Mr Innes, a former RAF and Maintenance Command player. “It is good to see so many players under one roof, especially in these times with the out of area commitment; it must be difficult to get time off work”.
The RAF FA Chairman, Gp Capt Mike Neville, Station Commander at rival RAF Lyneham, also presented Carl Evans with the player of the tournament trophy. “Football is the largest participative sport in the RAF and this tournament shows everything that is good with the sport and Service. It shows the excellent commitment and professionalism of the players and backroom staff and a real selflessness of all who are involved” commented Gp Capt Neville. “In these times where fitness is important and with the enduring out of area commitments, football has become very beneficial to improving health and teamwork”. “Today is evidence of how well we support our personnel, no matter the Op tempo” he noted.
Results
The men’s tournament started with 32 male teams in 6 groups with the top 2 from each group and 4 best losers entering the last 16 knock out stages of the cup and the remaining teams entering the plate competition. The ladies’ tournament had 9 teams in 2 groups with the top 2 entering the cup knockout and 3rd and 4th places competing for the plate. Mr Ray Innes, ESS and Mr Paul Hubbard, Selex presented the following trophies:
LADIES PLATE RUNNERS UP
LYNEHAM
LADIES PLATE WINNERS
WADDINGTON
LADIES CUP RUNNERS UP
ODIHAM/NORTHOLT
LADIES CUP WINNERS
CONINGSBY
MENS PLATE RUNNERS UP
VALLEY
MENS PLATE WINNERS
LYNEHAM B
MENS CUP RUNNERS UP
NORTHOLT
MENS CUP WINNERS
BRIZE NORTON A
The event is not just about a simple 5-a-side tournament. It also allows the development squads to scout for new players, allows newly qualified referees to gain confidence and experience in a controlled environment and gives the FA a valuable opportunity to publicise coaching, refereeing and other courses and events. It is amazing how cross-station and inter-trade interaction and networking with current and potential sponsors in this way helps the FA and can improve the standard of Station football in the long run.
Finally, “Good luck to RAF Brize Norton in the NATO tournament and we hope to see as many people enjoying the event next year” commented RAF’s “Mr Football” and FA Development Officer, John Duff. Without John, Vince and Sheila’s efforts at the RAF FA HQ, support from our sponsors, help and cooperation of the Powerleague team and teamwork from all players and backroom staff, this event would never happen.