GFSN National 5-a-side Tournament 2007
9 June 2007, Dublin
Nottingham Arrows: Semi-final
Nottingham Bows: Quarter-final

So how good is this then? In only our third small-side tournament, the Ballbois enter two teams and qualify both of them from the group stages into the quarter-finals. Not only that, but out of all the established clubs at the tournament we were the only one to achieve this double-feat. Unfortunately the club was not to progress beyond the Semifinals, but the strong showing was a great bonus to our first ever international tournament, held in the fair city of Dublin.

The tournament draw took place Friday evening back in the city in the George. Nottingham were split into their, by now familiar, five-a-side configuration of Bows and Arrows. Amazingly, the Ballbois were, as in Yorkshire, drawn together in the same group - a tough group which also contained reigning champions, Yorkshire 1, and the first team of Anniversary tournament winners, Birmingham. Yorkshire’s third team, Merseyside’s seconds and a Leftfooters team made up the remainder of the group. Most people obeyed John’s 2am curfew, although that didn’t stop people from arriving the following morning at Dublin City University nursing hangovers. Coupled with the heat, the rough surface and the intensity of the short six-minute games, this was to be a day where the Ballbois shed blood, sweat and tears. And vomit.

The Arrows kicked off the group against Yorkshire 1, going two goals down before Jeff pulled back a late consolation. The Bows also had to face Yorkshire 1 first-up, going down 3-0. So - two opening losses for both teams, but at least the toughest games of the group were out of the way. Yorkshire 3 should have been an easier game for Arrows, and indeed an early lead was taken through Jeff ’s goal. However, an unfortunate deflection saw Scott put the ball in his own net - honours ending even at 1-1. Bows fared better in their second game, beating Birmingham 2-0 with goals from Jordan and Ian. The Arrows then recorded their first win in the group with Brett scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over Leftfooters.

Now came some Boi-on-Boi action as, for the second tournament running, the two Ballbois teams faced each other. Nothing in the table was yet decided, so there was everything to play for. Despite both teams putting their fullest efforts into the game, it ended up being a cagey 0-0 draw. The Arrows were victorious in their final two games. A 1-0 victory over Merseyside’s second team was comfortable - the opposition never looked like scoring. The final game against Birmingham 1 was less of a formality, however. It seemed deadlocked at 0-0 until, in the final minute, John spotted a head-height infringement close to the opposition goal. Showing experience and speed-of-thought, he took a quick, short free kick to an unmarked Gareth, who calmly netted into an open goal. A second goal followed quickly from Brett to end the game 2- 0. Arrows qualified second in the group to Yorkshire 1.

Bows made a meal of their game versus Leftfooters, going down 2-0 at first, before Jordan evened the game with two late goals. Chris then embarked upon a goal-scoring romp, his first goal making the difference between the Bows and Yorkshire 3. He then followed this with a hat-trick against Merseyside, who could not find anything in reply. The Bows finished third in the group - enough to join Arrows in the last eight.

The two quarter-finals were played simultaneously. By some bizarre logic, Bows were drawn against their groupmates, Yorkshire 1. An early goal suggested that Yorkshire would repeat their earlier victory, and they seemed to be getting a bit overconfident about such an outcome. But another goal from Chris equalised the game, which then went to penalties. A tactical switch put Jordan in goal to face the penalties - and it payed off as he saved two. Jordan and Chris both netted to put Bows in the semis. If Arrows could win their quarter final against Merseyside’s first team, it would be an all-Nottingham semi-final - with the Ballbois guaranteed a final berth.

Alas, the 5-a-side specialists were just too good for Arrows, winning 2-0. In the semi-final, Bows also
went two goals down to Merseyside. A late consolation goal from the prolific Chris couldn’t stop Bows following Arrows out of the tournament. The tournament was won by Dublin, beating Merseyside on penalties in the final. Once again, Nottingham had a strong presence and gave a good account of ourselves on an international stage.

Arrows: Phil H, Andy B, Jordan K, Chris L, Dave O, Basil L and Ian R
Arrows: Tony L, Gareth D, John S, Jeff N, Brett L and Scott L