By John Alexander, ABFM secretary.
All 6 players and 1 supporter arrived in good time before the 10.00 start, Matches were played on one full size artificial surface, divided up into 5 mini-pitches. They were outlined with cones, goals were made from softball poles. There were no referees and match duration of 8 minutes were controlled by the public address for all games. I cannot recall all of the match scores, but we were worthy of the podium finish and were very close to winning the competition. The lack of proper goals and referees proved awkward to say the least, some resulting decisions were debatable but were taken in context with the spirit of the event.
Tinteniac A were quite competitive and we had an issue in our game with the score at 1-1. One of their defenders clearly encroached in their penalty area. BWFA claimed a spot kick that was converted. The incident was referred to the organiser and he decided that the goal be ruled out. We had incidents where shots on goal were debated as either in or missing and the decision was not always correct.
Le Trevoux A were the winners of the tournament although we gave them a stiff challenge and I think, drew the match. The Stade Rennais old boys were effective with their passing and good control and beat us 1-0. We also beat both Bourgbarre sides as well as Le Trevoux B and Tinteniac B. We played Miniac Morvan in the last game of the morning and they looked to be as not as strong as us. However, we struggled and could not beat their young lady goalkeeper. There was a last minute shot by the Miniac forward that I thought was saved, but might well have been counted.
If there was a down side to the tournament it was the lack of neutral decision making and the doubts over goals scored or not. No apparent injuries were seen during the two hours or so of games, but there was one early BWFA casualty when our beloved yellow ball was hacked over the perimeter fence and lost in the adjacent jungles. As for the offending kicker, He/She shall remain nameless, in order to protect the innocent.
There was a grand trophy awarded afterwards and speeches, including a contribution from our President. Saucisson, baguettes, galettes and a beer followed after. I think for a first attempt, this was a pretty good effort by Gaetan and his Bourgbarre club.
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