Clifton Controversy !!

If the Clifton Tournament was a newspaper, it'd be called "The Clifton Controversial" !
Despite dubious decisions and painful penalties, the foxes battled their way to the Semi Finals !

Our team: Edward, Ned, Kaylen, Harry, Max, Conrad, Neerij, Kione, Lawrence, George.

Game 1 against the Shire Colts, our last meetings ending in 8 losses in a row. Squeaky bum time ?
'Fraid not !
The boys stepped up, confident and full of energy. Strong at the back, stern in midfield and stinging in attack , we looked like we believed we could do it ! Closer and closer we came until FINALLY ! A breakthrough, Max made it through the defence and nutmegged the keeper for our winning goal !!
The rest of the team stood firm and battled to keep that lead until the final whistle.

Phew, game 1 over, we were on the way.

Next, Clifton Gladiators, ARE YOU READY ?? Foxes, ARE YOU READY ??
We could never have been ready for what happened next ...

Holding our own, some close calls, some near misses, until PEEEEEEPPPP !! The whistle blows in our area ! The crowd look surprised, stunned. What's going on ?

Penalty.

Penalty ??? Since when do the tournaments with 9 year olds have penalties ??
Kay was deemed to have brought down someone in the box. Nonsense. And obviously not on purpose, and with no chance of scoring. Terrible decision. But it wouldn't be the last one today.
The penalty was so superbly hit, Max (in goal) didn't stand a chance.

And that was the only goal of the game ... !
1-0 Clifton.

Still, heads up, let's get ready for the next one ! Ashley Down.

Now we've beaten the Downers a few times, so this one should be our easiest game. But you know, football's a strange game.
0-0.
A strong battle, a tough game, and a point for both teams.

Our final match in the group stages was the Golden Hill Sonics. All decked in yellow, it was like The Attack of the Giant Canaries. But we plucked them up good and proper.
By this time, Max had passed out and decided to go throw up in the bushes instead of play this one. 2 late nights in a row had taken their toll on the wee man, and he was out for the count.

The team rallied round, patted him on the back as he chucked up, rolled up their sleeves and good old Harry took up the mantle and charged for goal ... several times ... until Boooooom !! It was in !
Okay, don't get cocky. Stay cool and hold on boys ...

7 points in the bag. Second in the group stages, WE'RE THROUGH TO THE SEMIS !!

Now, this is where it gets ugly..

The Semi Final.
Against the Shire Colt Blacks. Their A-Team.
I pity the fools that play their A-Team, I pity the fools !

But my giddy aunt, we were strong ! We attacked, we defended, we saved ! In fact, Ed saved 2 certain goals so spectacularly that even the Shire supporters were cheering us.

Full time. 0-0.

Extra time. 4 minutes, only one way.

We won the toss !
We could play DOWNHILL !
This was our moment !

.. and then it all went sour.

A ball blasted into the air, our defenders standing strong, no chance of a goal, but heading for George ! He puts his hands up to protect his face. Boom ! It ricochets off them.

Peeeeep !! Penalty !

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT !!?? The 12 year old referee looked flummoxed as 47,000 parents from both sides and other clubs screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!"

From Fifa's own rules "

Not Awardable

A handball should not be awarded if a player is ruled to have handled the ball accidentally. This refers to a player either attempting to protect himself from injury, for example by placing the hands in front of the face and then being hit by the ball, or a player being hit on the arm by the ball without moving towards the ball and without being able to move out of the way."

Simple.

But the penalty still stood.
And nobody cheered when it went in.
Even Ed couldn't stop it. He's a super goalie, not Superman.

With the Foxes distraught and George devastated ( even though he'd done absolutely nothing wrong) there was nothing they could do to stop another goal going in.

Game and Tournament over.

A terrible decision, and a terrible shame, but hey, we found out we were 3rd place overall, out of ten teams that included Rockleaze, Clifton, the Shire Colts, and Bristol Rovers ! Now that is a phenomenal achievement !

And, as a footnote, in a final reminder about the perils of penalties, the poor Shire Colts lost out to Bristol Rovers in the Final due to a retaken penalty. The referee thought the Shire goalkeeper was off his line so made the boy retake his penalty that he just screamed over the bar. His second one went in.
That's a harsh, big decision against a 9 year old goalie jiggling on his line ...

But, as always, on our part, a great team effort, and a great day !

Very, very proud of all the foxes today, everyone played their best and tried their absolute hardest.

A very special shout out goes to Ed for volunteering several times to stay as goalkeeper. He saved the day literally for us numerous times.

Impenetrable defending from Ned, Kaylen (who was eeeeverywhere today) and Lawrence (or "the big lads at the back" as we like to call them)

And we had a tight, controlled, fast, penetrating midfield of Harry, Max, Neerij, Kione, Conrad and George as they mounted charge after charge, with some great passing, and some lovely moves.

Well done everybody, you fully deserved your 3rd place !!!

Now , here's a few pics I managed to take when I wasn't so excited that I forgot I had my camera ...

Gurmit warming the Foxes up before kick off by using the Hokey Cokey.