St Christopher’s started on a high with a victory against Kanoo School, last year’s champions, at the beginning of the two day Unity Cup for Under 19 Boys held at the Rashid school in Dubai. The team ended the tough first day with two victories, a draw and a loss but confidence and team spirit were high after some excellent performances on the field. Salman Al Awardi had made some brave saves with Adam Harper and Faisal Al Khalifa scoring after great individual runs. Day two started with St Christopher’s in high spirits knowing that two victories should give them a place in the Final. St Christopher’s were victorious in a very tough first game with solid performances by Jean  Boujakli and Ayman Anwar in midfield, Adam Shehabi and Ziad Al Sharif in defence and Sean Ross up front.  The second game saw St Christopher’s dominate and they won convincingly against the hosts. St Christopher’s finished the tournament top of the table but competition rules meant a final play-off between the top two sides for the right to be called champions. So a repeat of our opening game awaited us with the final against Kanoo. St Christopher’s scored first with a neatly executed free kick by Jake O’ Neill, with Jack Pearce scoring from the rebound. St Christopher’s looked comfortable until the dying minutes of the game when the opposition levelled the score. A tie at full time resulted in the game going to penalties. All of St Christopher’s penalty takers (Sean Ross, Adam Al Shehabi, Faisal Al Haddad, Jack Pearce and Jake O Neil) were successful in hitting the target, resulting in a well-earned victory for them. Overall, it was a fantastic display of commitment from all of the squad members. Everyone had played their part and their support and encouragement for each other was key to our ultimate success. Following the tournament, Top scoring honours were shared between Adam Harper, Faisal Al Khalifa and Sean Ross with three a piece and the Player of the Tournament as voted by the players went to Jean Boujakli. It was the first time a St Christopher’s Senior boys’ team had ever won the tournament at this age range, a fitting end to a long and demanding season.

Squad 

Salman Al Wardi, Mohammed Al Lari , Ziad Al Sharif, Faisal Al Haddad, Adam Al Shehabi. Jake O’Neil, Yousef Al Sharif, Jean Boujakli, Jack Pearce (Captain), Marwan Favre, Adam Harper, Sean Ross, Yousif Al Obaidli, Faisal Al Khalifa, Aymen Al Hassan, Nikolai Balet, Mohammed Mattar