FFScout Charity Cup Review

The inaugural Fantasy Football Scout Charity Cup has raised more than £1,000 so far in memory of community regular Simon Humber (aka Absinthe), who lost his battle with ocular melanoma in 2015.

All the money raised will go to the Melanoma Research Foundation – a charity identified and verified in our recent contact with Simon’s family.

The Cup tournament took place at the end of February at Hendon Football Centre in London and saw more than 30 community members and friends take part in some spectacular goal scoring feats, crunching tackles and plenty of on and off field banter. The vast majority of those taking part were meeting for the first time.

Wrongly anticipating a somewhat “mixed” standard, I provisionally organised players into teams representing Metz, Rotterdam, Benevento and Malaga, all of whom were bottom of their respective domestic leagues on the day of the event. Their skill on the day proved I should I have handed them far loftier monikers.

Each team played each other in a mini-league format to decide the line-ups for the semi-final and, for two lucky sides, a grand final berth.

Here’s how the day played out.

Group Stage

The first match, between Rotterdam and Metz, set the standard for the rest of the day with a fast paced, highly competitive display which saw Rotterdam come from behind to edge out Metz 2-1. Matt Garrett (NorcalJosh)  provided the assist for Metz’s opener and Ben “good touch for a big man” Short claimed the first of several nutmegs on the day.  Rotterdam’s Simon Coulthard (Could Get Messi) bagged the all-important winner late on.

Benevento then joined the comeback club, clawing back a 2-0 deficit against Malaga to draw 2-2, with the “Italian” side’s goals coming from Will Timbers (Top Marx) and Johnny James Downey (Tibbles) after Rahul Bajaj (Chicken Bhuna) and late Malaga replacement, Sascha, had seemingly put Malaga in control.

Indeed, Malaga had goalkeeper, Matt Williams (matzi11a) to thank for an incredible double save late on which preserved a point for the “Spaniards”.

The next two fixtures, slightly shortened for administrative reasons, saw only one team (Malaga) trouble the scorers, as Metz and Benevento played out a nervy goalless draw and Rotterdam went down 3-0 to the “Spanish” side in a match which included a delightful curling opener from Short and Bajaj then coming off the bench to notch a cheeky brace.

From this point the games opened up somewhat, as the Cup transitioned onto a larger pitch, just in time to test the aching muscles of the players, who ranged in age from late teens to mid-forties.

Malaga duly saw off Metz 1-0 in a match notable for Joseph Cahill (Jomica)’s diving header, which was as athletic as it was mistimed and saw his Superman impersonation come to earth nowhere near the ball. That win, though, saw Malaga top the group to set up a semi-final against the same opposition. Meanwhile, Rotterdam and Benevento shared the points in a 1-1 dead rubber which foreshadowed their semi-final clash – Paul Reed nodding in comeback specialist Benevento’s equaliser from a long throw.

Group stage final table:

Malaga:           W2       D1       L0        7 points

Rotterdam:      W1       D1       L1        4 points

Benevento:      W0       D3       L0        3 points

Metz:               W0       D1       L2        1 point

Semi-finals

The first semi-final proved one-sided as the Malaga juggernaut rolled into the final with a resounding 3-0 victory against a tiring Metz outfit. Key moments included Dave Cullen (dcullen617) beating two Metz defenders and slotting into the bottom corner for what some (Cullen himself!) described as “the goal of the tournament”.

Cahill also notched his first goal of the tournament from a corner, whilst Malaga stopper, Williams, evidently felt he needed more action too, with the keeper often found loitering on the edge of the Metz box, even when his side only had a one goal advantage.

In contrast, Rotterdam and Benevento’s semi-final went the distance with Rotterdam taking the lead early on and Ahmad Bashter (Bash Villa) hitting the post for Benevento before I equalised from the penalty spot in the last minute when James Edwards was scythed down in the area. Sadly for me, practice did not make perfect as the Rotterdam ’keeper kept out my strike in the ensuing penalty shoot-out and Chris Atkinson (RMT’s professor)’s spot conversion took Rotterdam into the final against a Malaga side that had prevailed over them 3-0 in the group stages.

Grand final: Malaga vs Rotterdam

The final, however, proved a much tighter affair, with both teams going close and both goalies making some terrific stops. Exhausted limbs and  tired minds couldn’t deter the effort and imagination of both sets of players, with Short’s attempted overhead kick drawing comparisons with Dean Ashton’s strike against Manchester United amongst those with a longer memory.

Cullen also struck the bar for Malaga before Rotterdam bundled the ball to safety. With the game seemingly heading to penalties, Atkinson took advantage of a lapse in the Malaga defence in the dying embers of the game to steer home the game’s only goal from long range and hand Rotterdam to the title.

Presentations

Rupert Lovibond (Rupert the Horse) made a permanent record of the occasion with a few group photos, during which most players displayed varying degrees of physical torment after knocking back a shot of absinthe in honour of Simon Humber.

Rupert then presented the Simon Humber memorial award to Malaga’s defensive lynchpin, Neville Blake.

FFScout’s Mark Sutherns (Mark), was on hand to present live-wire Miles Hinchcliffe (Bib Theory) with the overall Player of the Tournament trophy, edging out the impressive Doug Jones (Applebonkers), whilst Bajaj defied pre-tournament expectations by gaining more goals (three) than fines (0) to finish with the tournament’s Golden Boot.

The fact that more goals weren’t scored during the day had less to do with the quality of the finishing and was more due to some exceptional goalkeeping from the likes of Williams (Malaga), Steve Bland (Metz) Chris Kouwenberg (Benevento) and Ben Ponsio (Rotterdam).

More photos from the day can be found here.

All in a good cause

In amongst fines, sponsorship and generous donations from FFScout, the event has raised  £1,0299.60 so far to support the Melanoma Research Foundation.

Donations are still welcome and can be made via this Just Giving page.

Thank you to everyone who donated and/ or took part, particularly Rupert the Horse and Top Marx for their invaluable help before and on the day. That includes their excellent work on the match coverage and stills now included below.

Next year’s Cup is already eagerly anticipated.