Big day for soccer 11s

By Volunteer James Irwin

My final day of volunteering at these fantastic Games brought me back to the soccer 11s tournament at The Dub, Queen’s Sport Upper Malone, and I was pleased to have the chance to link up with some of the teams and volunteers I met last week. The football did not disappoint either, with a bounty of goals and plenty of controversy, just exactly what one would expect from a top class tournament.

While for many the top game of the day was the keenly-anticipated match-up between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service men’s teams, it was the ladies who took centre stage for the morning session on the main arena and number one pitch beside the pavilion.

On the showcase arena pitch, the ebullient and popular New South Wales Police mercilessly thumped competition whipping girls the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by 17 goals to one. Another sound beating for RCMP but a second goal of the competition to cherish and they kept their smiles at the end.  It was a similar story for the local ladies, their Northern Ireland Combined services side going down 12-0 to tournament favourites Mexico Police. That sets up an intriguing showdown tomorrow between the Mexicans and the Australians to decide the gold medal – one to watch if you can make it to the grounds.

On the outer pitches the men’s division 1 games saw the previously mentioned all-Northern Ireland affair in one and the Mexico Police take on the Gardanne Fire service in the other. A very healthy crowd of family, friends and service colleagues turned up to show their support for both PSNI and NIFRS and they were rewarded with one of the games of the tournament. Both teams started brightly but it was the PSNI who took the upper hand and capitalised on patchy NIFRS defending, heading into half time 3-0 up thanks to goals from Adamzcyk, Lawson and Holden.

As was to be expected, tackles were full-blooded and the pace relentless. NIFRS needed to get a goal back early in the second half and it was they who pinned PSNI back in their own half in the face of the firefighters’ onslaught. NIFRS looked likely to gain a foothold in the game until the police won what was at best a “soft” free kick after the referee deemed a routine collision between the fire service right back and a PSNI striker to be a foul. The resulting free kick was launched into a congested NIFRS penalty box and in the pandemonium an unfortunate firefighter put the ball through his own net. 4-0 to the PSNI and the match all but over as a contest. Or so it seemed.

The fire service team continued with the same strategy as before, pushing forward and forcing the police into some fine defending. The pressure paid off eventually, though, with Alistair notching two goals for the NIFRS to give them a genuine chance of pulling off a remarkable comeback. But the NIFRS team’s belief was cut short when they had a player rather harshly sent off, a fairly innocuous challenge deemed worthy of a second yellow.

Despite a spirited effort by the fire service, they were caught short in defence while desperately seeking a third goal and a PSNI forward was able to take advantage, slotting home their fifth. Final score 5-2 and the PSNI boys now in contention for gold, a game to come with Mexico Police, who beat Gardanne Fire 3-0 and are now aiming for double male and female soccer gold for their force, to decide the winner.

The afternoon session saw the well-supported PSNI over-35s side take on Marbella Police in another superb match that was stopped early by the referee. The Spaniards had taken a very early hold of the game, 2-0 ahead within 10 minutes, before the local boys fought back to level at 2-2 before half time. With the match finely poised, Marbella then pulled out one of the moments of the tournament when their midfielder spied the PSNI keeper at the edge of the penalty area and launched a David Beckham-style lob from the centre circle that unerringly looped down over the despairing police goalie. A spectacular and memorable way to go 3-2 up.

Inexplicably, though, the Spanish side, despite being in a winning position, then completely lost their discipline as their desire to win boiled over into a sequence of behaviour that ultimately cost them the game. First, one player, without apparent provocation, shoved a PSNI player off his feet to the ground: a straightforward red card decision for the referee. The Marbella players, however, took exception to this decision to the point where one earned his team another red in quick succession.

Down to nine men, but still winning, the Spaniards remained unhappy about the match officials and continued to harangue both the referee and the assistant on the side near their bench. After he issued several unheeded warnings to the team to calm down and desist, the referee took the brave and, to my mind, correct decision to call the game to an end with 15 minutes remaining. The matter was the subject of a meeting of officials at the end of the afternoon but in the absence of official confirmation it was a safe assumption that a win by default was to be awarded to the PSNI lads. This would put them top of the tournament with two matches remaining and well in the hunt for gold.

The other over-35s games in the afternoon delivered double success for Brazil – the Brasilia State Police beating North California Fire 5-0 and the same region’s Military Police turning over HM Prison Service 6-0. And their compatriots rampaged in the men’s 2nd division tournament too. Sao Paolo Police beating their Singapore counterparts 2-0 and the Brasilia State force edging past Mexico Corrections 3-2. There must be something in the water in Brazil.

A brilliant day of action to finish my volunteering experience. Huge credit goes to all those involved in keeping the venues ticking over – the army of volunteers once again doing themselves proud. From the school-aged helpers like Harriet Appleyard of Antrim Grammar and Cara Stewart of Lagan College, who have both embraced the opportunity to give of themselves as volunteers and vowed to keep in touch after the Games, to the seasoned and super-resourceful team leaders like Lee Campbell, an inspiration volunteering veteran of two Special Olympics and the Boccia World Cup and who will be at the Dub for the duration of the Games – every red-shirted assistant can hold their heads high and know they have been part of something very special.

A big thank-you to everyone and my very best wishes to all for the rest of the Games. I’ll be sure to get to some events as a spectator before the festivities end!