Bringing Home the Gold

 The St Christopher’s Football Squad journeyed to Dubai for the annual Unity Cup Football Tournament, held a bit earlier this year, across the weekend of the 10 and 11 February. Friday’s round of fixtures were in a 7-a-side format, the 22 players splitting into three teams – United, City and Rovers.

The combination of a draining round-robin format, huge playing areas and the Dubai heat (despite recovery in the shade) made it a tough task for each team. Perseverance paid off at the end of the day with Rovers finishing third and United and City playing in a final for United to eventually win, leaving City in second place.

Saturday’s tournament reverted to the classic Unity Cup 11-a-side format with the new United and City playing some different teams and age groups, again in a round-robin league. Both teams adapted quickly to the unfamiliar formation and, despite a couple of scares, finished first and second once more to collect their second trophy from two tournaments.

The Unity Cup remains a great opportunity and experience for these players as they learn more about their own responsibilities and how to work with others in different situations. The players who participated this year were no exception in this regard. Well played to all involved!

Salman Abuzahra, Ahmed Al A’ali, Salman Al Khalifa, Harry Doran, Ali Ajaj, Ibrahim Foudeh, Cormac Mulleague, Isa Al Khalifa, Caden Halloum, Mishal Kazi, Christy Maye, Jack Yates, Khalifa Al Khalifa, Jacob Phillpots, Cesar Vrijhof, Darion Ali, Sasha DeSouza, Faisal Kanoo, Essa Jalal, Khalid Alalawi, Theo Bicknell, Abdulla AlAali, Nicholas Santiago

U14 Boys Unity Cup

St Christopher’s School’s U14 Boys Football squad had an undefeated tournament at the Unity Cup this year. In the tournament, St Christopher’s grew stronger throughout the stages of the competition where we faced our old rivals IKNS, beating them 4-1. The atmosphere was tense throughout the tournament and the team had a real sense of drive and passion throughout every game. Our attacking formation was evident as the boys created space and believed in their own ability to win the games. The pressure grew in the later stages of the tournament on the second day especially in the first game of the day, but we won comfortably in the end, 2-0 against IAAB. Louis Mulleague captained the team to success; the team scored 24 goals and conceded one, an outstanding statistic for the team. Overall, it was a good show by all, and they should be proud of the achievement and sportsmanship shown on the field.  We are indebted to Abderrahmane Mounir, our main sponsor from Batelco, for supporting this event.