Thirty-nine for Unst football

THE ANNUAL Stanley Mouat four-a-side football tournament took place on Saturday at Unst Leisure Centre. Thirty-nine players from secondary three and up entered and players were then drawn out of a hat to make up 10 teams. It was a long afternoon of football, with 45 matches each lasting four minutes.

At the end of the round robin Neil Laurenson’s team were first (Neil, Stuart Lavender, Kevin Priest and Erik Thomson) and second came Ben Johnson’s side (Ben, Jamie Macaulay, Darren Thomson and Gordon Thomson).

They played in an eight-minute final, with Neil’s team taking a first half lead 3-0. Ben’s team came back in the second half and scored three goals, but Stuart Lavender scored a fourth for Neil’s team to take the trophy. Unst FA president Richard Pottinger thanked the players, staff at the centre and Geoffrey Priest in particular for refereeing in what had been a sporting and enjoyable event.

Not to be outdone by the men, the Unst lasses decided to hold a football tournament too. A four-a-side competition was organised for last Saturday also, to play for the Millennium Cup.

There was a good turnout with four teams playing a round robin. The teams were drawn out of a hat and were well matched, but the team consisting of Amber Johnson, Chelsea Jamieson, Emily Tulloch and Clair Priest reigned supreme.

Unst coach Geoffrey Priest presented the trophy and prizes to team captain Amber Johnson and nominated spokeswoman Clair Priest thanked the organisers for their hard work and everyone who had come to play for making the event such a success.

Unst WFC hope to make this an annual event and were delighted to welcome Sam and Karen who travelled up from the mainland to participate.