Friday, 1st February 2019
Day Two – Football
Day 2 saw the start of the football competition and a hazy start was quickly burnt off by a scorching Dubai sun! The day saw both teams begin by playing 4 pool matches.
The boys faced a strong pool stage with schools from Dubai, Bahrain and Kenya. They went out first against a strong Bahrain side and, despite some excellent play, and fantastic goals from Struan and Constantinos A, they couldn’t keep the opposition at bay and the match ended with St Cats 4-2 down.
After a one game rest, they headed out against local side, GEMS MTS. The ball was being bounced around the pitch nicely and the boys had some open opportunities, but the defence proved too strong and they couldn’t put it into the net. Two strong strikes from the Dubai team saw them put 2 past Kyriakos in goal and the team faced a tough defeat.
They went into the third match, knowing that it would be a hard challenge. They had seen CIS play a few matches earlier, but ever to rise to a challenge, they went in all guns blazing. It was a tough, physical game and a foul from CIS just inside the box, left us with a penalty. A fantastic strike from Struan saw the ball bounce just inside the top of the crossbar, but the keeper managed to get it away (we later learned that their keeper is on the African select squad!) The match ended at 0-0 in what had probably been their toughest game yet!
Finally, they went into the last of their pool matches against other local team Foremarke. They could taste the victory from the start and they wanted it badly. Reports were coming in that the girls were doing well, and always keen to match them, the boys put in a great show and goals from both Constantinos and Konstantinos saw St Cats pull ahead. Foremarke tried to bring it back, but a strong defence and some excellent keeping from Kyriakos saw the full time whistle blow with us 2-1 up!
With the smell of victory in the air, the boys headed into their tier matches. They were in tier 2 playing for 9-16th place. Their first game was against Haileybury. With some rotation in the team, we saw excellent goals from Constantinos and Pandelis. Two goals from Haileybury put the game neck and neck and the full time whistle went & lead them into penalties! Excellent shots from Paris & Konstantinos saw our boys win and put them in the race for 9-12th position. Their next challenge was against strong UK side ACS Cobham. Their defence proved too strong for our boys and a last minute goal saw them go ahead, taking our boys into the 11/12th place play-off game.
Their final match was against Lagos Prep and the boys switched their positions up to try and put some more pressure. An excellent strike from goalie Kyriakos put them in the running, but Lagos kept getting through and the final whistle blew 3-1 down. The boys finished the day in 12th position in the football – they played some top-notch football against some really tough sides.
The girls started the day on the outdoor pitches and with a fantastic fan base (thanks for the coffee guys!) they were off to a flying start. The first game is always the hardest, and the girls were busy finding their feet and we were working hard to perfect their form. A cracking start from Alexia and Anaïs put us 2-0 up at half time and the girls were ecstatic. A few changes after half time left some gaps and GEMS MTS saw straight through it and equalized. The girls tried to claw back their lead but it wasn’t to be and we ended with a superb 2-2 final result. The second match was against Brookes Moscow. The girls went into the game feeling confident and that showed in their teamwork throughout the match. Some strong play up front encouraged us to bring an extra player out of defence and did this tactic work! Having an extra player out allowed us to apply more pressure on their defence and the ball didn’t enter our half for the duration of the second half! Goals were scored by Leticia, Alexia and Maria! A very successful win for the girls and a newfound positivity and enthusiasm hit the pitch! Next up was a strong JESS Jumeirah team. The girls were neck and neck the whole way through, but a late finish from Anaïs got our 1-0 lead. The girls played spectacular football for the remainder of the game and kept Jess’ attack at bay to walk away with the win! The fourth and final game saw us playing a strong Marbella EIC team. The girls were tired and warm at this point, but after some refuelling in the forms of Gatorade & Mars bars (thanks to Konstantina-Ermina’s parents for the fuel!!!) they were ready to play! Both teams came out strong and a few shots on target from both sides indicated the game was anyone’s. Before either team could introduce the ball to the back of the net, the full time whistle blew at 0-0.
After these superb performances in the Pool games the girls headed into the top tier finals playing for 1- 8th place out of 20 teams. Their first match was against home side, GEMS WSO. The girls were neck and neck the whole way through but a 0-0 draw saw the girls take their first set of penalties. Some very nervous faces waited in anticipation. We had some excellent shots from Leticia, Alexia, Anaïs and Athina as well as some fantastic keeping from Luisa. After the fourth penalty, WSO went ahead, knocking us off a podium run! Their heads dropped slightly as they started to feel defeated. But their team spirit had been undeniable all day and they pulled up their socks and went into their next game smiling. Again, they had a well matched game against GEMS First Academy and again, the full time whistle blew at 0-0. It had been a physical game and the girls were exhausted. This time Konstantina-Ermina was in goal and she thoroughly rose to the occasion. Aphrodite, Alexia and Anaïs had some great shots but only Leticia managed to launch (and I mean LAUNCH) her ball past the goalie. It was neck and neck until the last shot as Konstantina-Ermina had done a hero job of saving the first two shots. Unfortunately for us, their fourth strike got past her and yet again we were defeated on penalties! The final game was against Jess Jumeirah for 7th & 8th place play offs. Both teams were out fighting and Alexia and Maria had a good couple of runs, looking like they might score, but they just couldn’t land one past the goalie! Konstantina-Ermina was kept on her toes throughout in goal and she proved too quick to react to the Jess attackers leaving us AGAIN at 0-0 full time. Penalties Part Three!!! Penalty taker Anaïs was off being iced at the medical tent so we were down to 2 regular penalty takers. Maria stepped up to the plate to be our third, but after three clean strikes for the JESS girls and one miss from us, meant that yet again, we’d lost out on penalties!!!
The effort put in by the girls was faultless and their ability to push through even after defeat, with their heads held high was outstanding. 8th place just didn’t seem fair but no-one doubted what a great team we had proved to be in real time – bravo girls!
