PSL U11 Boys Football Tournament

A Game of Footie

St Christopher’s continued the tradition of hosting the first event in Bahrain’s Primary Sports League with the U11 Boys Football Tournament. Rain was threatening overhead as St Chris’s three teams – United, Rovers and again from the Development Squad, Athletic – began their quest for the cup.

United started ridiculously well with possibly a record 9-0 victory but then slumped to a surprise defeat by Bayan. Rovers and Athletic were having similarly mixed fortunes in their pool, including a 1-0 win by Rovers over Athletic. United managed to stage a recovery and made progress into the semi-finals against a strong BSB team who had won their group, with both Rovers and Athletic just missing out.

It was a tale of utter dominance from United but without a breakthrough as the final whistle blew with both teams unable to score and too resilient to concede. Extra time proved a similar story leaving penalties a cruel decider. Sam Stubbs stepped up as the St Chris hero, saving the final BSB penalty with a huge dive to his left and sending United into the final. It was a chance for United to make amends against Bayan and, as they had in the group game, opened the scoring through Abdulla AlAali. Bayan, as they had in the group game, equalised but this time, St Chris proved the more determined and Faisal Fakhro crowned a great personal footballing week with his second trophy-winning goal in as many finals.

Every player did their bit for their team, showing that it is often the will-to-win that decides the outcome and should be as pleased with their performances as their managers, Mr Maye, Mr Dales and Mr Holness were. Huge thanks must go to Mr Gosling, Mr Ross and Mr Roycroft who refereed with complete impartiality and authority, as well as Mr Armstrong whose digital wizardry and consistent commentary kept the event rolling smoothly.