The past weekend saw another successful AP 7 aside tournament. Even in the group stages competition was fierce and the compact pitches and Tony Bent’s carefully thought out seeding system led to tight, competitive games.
Big thanks to Tony Bent, Mark Carter, Richard Gibbs and Mick Porter for giving up their peaceful bank holidays for the stresses of refereeing all day, as well as to Sergio and Nicky for serving up the food and drink.
The first game of the quarter finals brought a shock with the free scoring MYERS SUPER 6’S kept out by TOUGH LOVE UNITED, who also managed to nick a goal. The other pick of the round saw pre-tournament favourites MACCA’S MEN needing a sublime Ben carter strike to defeat last year’s holders JPK.
The semi-finals saw UNREAL MADRID shock MACCA’S MEN 3-1 and TOUGH LOVE UNITED succumb to a 2-0 defeat to Jed Wood’s FOOTBALL GENIUS. Indeed, FOOTBALL GENIUS had been in ominous form all day and were able to take this into the final, with a 2-1 win seeing them lift the trophy with the big ears.
Finally, a shout out to social secretary Joe Robinson who heroically came down to ‘support’ the event despite having a mild cramp from attending a performance of Billy Elliot with his mum.
Group Stage Standings
| GROUP 1 | |||||||||
| TEAM | NAME | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
| E | MYERS SUPER 6’S | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 6 |
| A | JPK | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| B | BAYER NEVERLOSING | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| C | HOPE & ANCHOR | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| D | AP YOUTH WEST | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | -5 |
| GROUP 2 | |||||||||
| TEAM | NAME | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
| A | MACCA’S MEN | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 7 |
| B | SONS OF PITCHES | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| D | TOUGH LOVE UTD | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| C | AP YOUTH | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | -4 |
| E | TFC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | -5 |
| GROUP 3 | |||||||||
| TEAM | NAME | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
| A | FOOTBALL GENIUS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| C | UNREAL MADRID | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| B | ZIZKOV | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| D | PAYNEY’S SUPERSTARS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -1 |
Quarter Finals
A: Myers Super 6’s 0 vs Tough Love Utd 1
B: Macca’s Men 1 vs JPK 0
C: Football Genius 1 vs Bayer Never Losing 1 (Football Genius win on penalties)
D: Sons of Pitches 0 vs Unreal Madrid 1
Semi Finals
A: Football Genius 2 vs Tough Love Utd 0
B: Macca’s Men 1 vs Unreal Madrid 3
Final
Football Genius 2 vs Unreal Madrid 1
