From the beginning, GADC showed themselves to be worthy of the hype, winning their first two games and playing some great football. Shun started more slowly with a draw against No Name but had a convincing win against Fighting Korea. No Name started well, and Alex's goal against MEP Boys was one of the highlights of the competition, but both they and Fighting Korea struggled and were unable to make the final. In contrast, Shun, having downed GADC 2-1 in their clash, cruised through to the final with a comprehensive 4-0 win over the hopeful MEP Boys. The bridging students had a few problems, including our competition's first-ever red card, but they hung on to finish in third place.
Despite several good individual performances, the other teams were unable to match the two (mainly) Japanese sides, and Shun and GADC lined up in the expected Grand Final. The first half was a tense, goalless affair with both sides trying to break the deadlock. Andy had a golden chance for Shun but missed in front of an open goal! After the break, Shun (and especially Takayuki) started to exert more pressure and were rewarded by a goal half way through the eight minutes. GADC tried to hit back, but Shun always had the upper hand, and when Takayuki set up Shun for the second goal minutes before the end, it was just the icing on the cake.
Shun were worthy champions; the sixth time in nine competitions that Hosei students have taken out our tournament! Andy finally got his winners' medal (even if he couldn't score a goal all day!), and Takuma has to wait for next time after his third consecutive Grand Final loss!
The choice of player of the tournament was fairly straight-forward this time. Takuma played well early in the compeition, and Kyohei, Bill and Leon stood out for their teams. However, Takayuki Nakamura was the best player in four of his team's five games and was a worthy winner; well done!
That's all for our June competition; we'll see you all again in September!