Indoor works triumph by Malakoff side
The Shetland Works League Football Association held the Hanson Aggregate indoor tournament at the weekend. All the league’s teams entered with Wastside Ramblers stretching their resources to field two teams.
Group A consisted of Malakoff, Banks, Wrultizers, Wastside Rebels B, Wast Linga Ramblers and Turysci FC.
Banks and Malakoff started the best with the boatbuilders surprising all present with an impressive victory over group favourites Wrultizers and Banks putting Rebels B to the sword.
The group remained close to the end and with the last round of matches to go there were still four teams in contention for the two semi-final births.
Wrultizers booked the first place with a stylish win against Banks but Wast Linga Ramblers’ hopes of a semi-final space were dashed as they lost to Wastside Rebels B whose keeper John Manson kept the Ramblers at bay with a series of stunning saves.
That left Turysci and Malakoff battling for the last space. Turysci needed a win to move through but despite late pressure Malakoff held on to get the draw they needed which sent the Turysci team home unbeaten and very unlucky.
Group B was also a close affair as Burra, Services, Wastside Rebels A, Mossbank and Chernobyl all battled hard.
Burra reproduced their outdoor form to qualify first but going into the last round of matches all the other teams had the chance to qualify. The Wastside Rebels A team had flown out of the blocks impressively, taking the scalp of Mossbank. But the Mossbank team, after receiving a blast from ex-manager Danny Graham, instantly fought back to comprehensively beat Chernobyl and then knock Services out of contention in a fiery encounter. Rebels, pushed on by their fans, defeated Chernobyl to keep their hopes of a semi-final spot alive.
The final game saw Mossbank and Burra face off with Mossbank needing a point to confirm their slot in the next round.
Burra took the lead, roared on by their support and seemingly masses of Wastside supporters, but just when it looked as though Mossbank were on the way out they snatched the goal needed to ensure their qualification.
The first semi-final between Burra and Wrultizers was as close as they come and with everybody expecting a penalty shoot-out Bradley McKenzie decided to hurry things up a bit, scoring the only goal of the game with three seconds remaining.
The second semi-final saw Malakoff face off against Mossbank. Mossbank’s group stage luck seemed to desert them as they were put to the sword, Alan Baptie powering home a penalty before Steven Leckie cut in from the left to clinically settle the match.
The final was another close game which was deservedly won by Malakoff after Steven Leckie released Paul Johnson who fired in an unstoppable shot past Ian Hannah in the Burra goal.
A spokesman said the committee would like to thank Steven Jarmson for organising the tournament, referees Robbie Leask and Steven Goodlad and all the clubs for entering what had been an excellent tournament played with high spirits.
The player of the tournament would be extremely hard to pick but no-one would argue Malakoff’s Steven Leckie, Wrultizers’ Craig Jarvie and Burra’s James Halcrow would all have been in with a shout.
