We went up early 1-0 and were all over them until our legs started to go. We had 12 players on our roster two of whom were injured and they had 20. The scored 4 straight before the end of the first half. We pulled two back to make it 4-3. We hit a cross bar and they missed a few good chances. On the day they deserved to win - mostly because of bodies and fitness. They will go on to win the group after looking at the other two teams. We have 11 today and will struggle again.
Unfortunately a crude comment made by one of their players towards one of our player's wives put a bad taste in everyone's mouth. He embarrassed his team and I think that is what most of us will remember about North Enderby. He came over to apologize and right before he did he stated he felt good about what he had said earlier. He is a young punk with no clue how to speak to or about ladies. His team should send him home and that player is fortunate we don't play them again.
We had 19 signed to our roster but we had a few late injuries to some of our best players and some of our other players had late work commitments and we had a few just flake out. Anyways there were a few good teams there that we would have given a game on any given day but this tournament is one of attrition. I know some teams had players playing for them that weren't legal according to tournament rules and it seemed like you could just pick up anyone who was willing to play. We weren't aware of how lenient it was. In our second and third game the referee didn't even check the cards. North Enderby's #12 told our center back he played in the Vancouver Metro Premier last year. But anyways best of luck to the semifinalists.
I don't really know if it is true, it is just what that player said. Protesting would be a little like sour grapes and we couldn't play another day with our 12 anyways.
I think the semis are Enderby vs Richmond All Blacks and Dragons vs Romania. Enderby has a lot of depth on their team. Dragons look very good as well. Didn't see Romania or All Blacks play.
Thanks for the update... Seems like despite the fact they've got that nice website for the tourney, they can't be bothered to update it.
Dragons vs. Romania should be a good match... Interesting to see if the Romanians' antics put off the Dragons, or if they're smart enough to ignore the fish-like flopping. I would say the winner of these two will go on to win the whole thing.
all-blacks didn't get through the group stages and only scored one goal. Only win was a default.
some noted scores:
surrey 2-1 coquitlam arsenal
richmond athletics 1-1 young guns
gorge 2-1 juan de fuca
romania 4-4 parsi
north enderby 4-3 coachmen (gave up 4 straight and couldn't comeback)
dragons 3-0 courvas
young guns 1-1 all-blacks
romania 5-1 surrey (romania flag was all over the cat team)
coquitlam 3-1 parsi
dragons 6-2 polonia (polonia only gave up 5 goals in regular season)
Gorge 4-1 coachmen (despite 12 guys, coachmen old and really out of shape)
dragons 6-0 chilliwack honda (smart move sitting starters)
athletics 4-1 all-blacks (youngsters outclassed all-black, youth helps)
north enderby 2-1 juan de fuca
late games:
winner of coquitlam vs romania in semis
winner of gorge vs north enderby in semis
richmond athletics and dragons clinch semi spots
So. we didn't blow it this year I can finally use the icon I made so many years ago We even played in the black and red stripes for the final.
Results:
Semifinals: North Enderby 2 Richmond Athletics 1 - NE won it in added time. Richmond Dragons 7 Romania 2 - a bit up and down, we slotted 3 at the end to seal it.
Final: Richmond Dragons 3 North Enderby 0 - halftime score was the final. The young NE legs ran out and the second half played out very slowly. Ninja described it as 'fcuking boring but nice' to watch.
Kudos to the tournament organizers and the refs. Things ran quite smoothly. No conflicts on the field and all our games were played in good spirit.
kurgan
Maybe next year we can have the tourney on a DIFFERENT weekend than Nation's Cup though
Congrats to the Dragons. They were clearly the class of the tournament.
As for us we were grossly unprepared. We didn't take the tournament as seriously as we should have. Not enough training and not enough players. Unfortunately we will be signing A forms from now on so redemption isn't possible.
The IGM Dragons won the Keith Millar Cup, while the Abbotsford Mariners won the Leeta Sokalski Cup. Congratulations to all the teams that participated in the rain-soaked event!
More Details
Mens Final : North Enderby Timber - 0 IGM Dragons - 3
Out of the teams that participated, How many fielded a roster that resembled their Winter team? Speaking for my club, it would have been difficult to pull together our winter team for this tournament. With that said, it would appear that some teams were taking liberties with their pickups. Polonia and Romania had good teams. Having played Romania twice last season, I would say they "were" lower VMSL Div 1 quality. IGM plays in a league which fields teams that would compete well in VMSL Div 1 and maybe lower table in Premier. It should be expected that they do consistently well.
At anyrate, its all about having fun and staying healthy(and a bit about hardware to put up on the mantle ).
Congrats to the Dragons! Looks like they dominated this tourney from start to finish. Having played them a number of times over the past couple of seasons I can say that they are a very solid team and always put in a good performance. Without a doubt they have been the best team in BC on B Forms in 2006-07.