The view from Josh's chair

After nearly 8 hours of play, under leaden skies, City were just one challenge away from winning their first significant tournament. All they had to do was to overcome the hosts, Abingdon, in a penalty shoot-out. And we all know how good Cardiff are at penalties...

Abingdon went first, with their star player who had been accurate from long range throughout the final. He was less deadly from 2½ metres though, and Cardiff had a slight edge. Terry was first up for Cardiff, having had plenty of practice to hone his technique during the preceding game. The ball hovered agonisingly on the rim, but dropped in. 1-0 to Cardiff. Abingdon shot. 1-1. Josh was next and managed to drop the shot off only 3 sides of the rim. 2-1 Again Abingdon responded 2-2. Some players make penalties look easy; throwing their long limbs forward they seem to just place the ball in the basket. Midge is not one of these players, but she judged her shot right. 3-2. Up into the air went another Abingdon penalty. "It's short", Terry pronounced confidently. It wasn't. 3-3, but Cardiff still had the edge. Next up for Cardiff was Susan, but her penalty must have been caught by a freak gust of wind and it drifted long. Still all square. Up into the air went another Abingdon penalty. "It's long", Terry pronounced confidently. It was. Still 3-3. Ceri stepped up to take the penalty that could win the tournament... and, as I'm sure you've guessed from all the build-up, he scored. Cardiff City were the winners.

CHAMPIONS!!

Cardiff 2 1    Terry
   Exeter 0

Next up were Woking, one of the tournament favourites. Cardiff started brightly with Susie landing a long shot, before Gav responded in kind for Woking. Woking took the lead when Jack was beaten for a running-in shot, before Terry fed Grace for the equaliser. Unfortunately Terry spoiled his good work by being slow to react to a long pass over his head and Woking led 3-2. Again Cardiff came back through Susie's running-in shot. Cardiff almost held out for an excellent draw, but Woking's girls came strongly into the game to finish with 2 late goals from a run past Susan and a rebound.

Cardiff 2 3     Susie 2, Terry
   Woking 5

The next game for the seconds saw them respond to beat the combined Universities side (I was playing on the other pitch at the time, so can't add much detail) and went into their game against Oxford City knowing that a win would put them in the semis.

Cardiff 2 3     Guest (Helen, Exeter), Terry
   Oxford Unis 2

An excellent start saw Grace net twice. After that the game tightened up, with both sides struggling to create chances. Finally Oxford pulled one back, but Cardiff won a penalty that would restore their 2 goal cushion - only for Josh to miss it. Soon after Oxford equalised. Cardiff continued to defend strongly, but were unable to grab a winner. With other results going against them, Cardiff were very unlucky to miss out on the semis on goal difference.

Cardiff 2 2     Grace 2
   Oxford 2

In the other pool, Cardiff I had begun with a comprehensive victory over Bristol City. Elaine scored a hat trick and Ceri and Dave both grabbed two. Bristol created few chances and only got onto the score sheet with 2 shots from very long range and a penalty conceded by Josh. Dave was convinced that it resulted from a lack of grip and spent the next 20 minutes trying to find him some footwear with studs, but really it was just routine incompetence.

Cardiff 1 8     Elaine 3, Taff 2, Ceri 2
   Bristol City 3

Next up were Abingdon, and Cardiff raced into a two-goal lead through Susan and Ceri. After that though things began to go wrong, with a penalty bringing Abingdon back into the game while Cardiff missed several chances at the other end. The quality of Abingdon's long shooting began to tell and they moved into a 3-2 lead. Cardiff continued to miss shots, and Abingdon's fourth goal clinched the match.

Cardiff 1 2     Susan, Ceri
   Abingdon 4

This meant that Cardiff had to beat Horfield to make the semis. As soon as Elaine gave Cardiff the lead this was never in doubt as Horfield were unable to create any chances while Terry, James and Midge all netted for City.

Cardiff 1 4     Elaine, Terry, Midge, James
   Horfield 0

Horfield were now the opponents for Cardiff II in the plate semi, with a stronger side and they looked very strong around the post with two goals coming from rebounds sandwiching Dave's score. When Horfield went 3-1 ahead after a long shot with time running out Cardiff seemed out of it, but the seconds quickly won a penalty. Dave missed it, but managed to react quickly to tip in the rebound. Cardiff then grabbed their chance to salvage the game as Dave completed a hat trick from long range and the game finished 3-3. The penalty competition was tight, but the decision to leave the decisive penalty to Dave backfired, with rebounds not allowed in a shoot-out. Horfield triumphed.

Cardiff 2 3     Taff 3
   Horfield 3 (Horfield won penalty shoot-out 4-3)

The seconds finished in a rematch against the universities side, but with legs clearly tiring in defence they were unable to repeat their earlier victory. Despite a couple of goals apiece for Grace and Lee, the match finished 4-6. This meant that the seconds finished in a completely undeserved 8th place, when - but for the tendency of guesting 1st team players to miss penalties for them - they could easily have finished in the top 4.

Cardiff 2 4     Lee 2, Grace 2
   Oxford Unis 6

The firsts took on Oxford in the semi-final and started well with Grace showing quick hands in the feed to set up Josh. Oxford equalised through a running-in shot past Midge and after Susan restored Cardiff's lead another running-in shot levelled it at 2-2. Terry had been promoted to the firsts for this game for his height and penalty taking. He failed to win a collect all game and we didn't win a penalty at his end, instead he turned into a goal machine, netting from a free pass and then from short range. Midge's runner just before the final whistle sealed a comfortable 5-2 win.

Cardiff 1 5     Terry 2, Midge, Josh, Susan
   Oxford 2

Cardiff then faced Abingdon in the final, seeking retribution for their earlier loss. The game was tight and competitive with lots of action around the basket resulting in a spate of penalties. Ceri scored from the spot to give Cardiff the lead, before Elaine conceded two in quick succession for City. Only one was scored, but Elaine was threatened with a yellow card and decided to stop trying to intercept passes to the feed. Cardiff were able to retake the lead through yet another penalty, Terry scoring after Josh's pass over the top to Grace drew a foul. Encouraged by this success, Josh continued to try this pass throughout, with negligible results. Abingdon then showed their strength with Ceri and Grace both being run past, either side of a City missed penalty through Ceri. Susan's long shot brought the scores back level, but Abingdon responded in kind. Then Cardiff had a period of dominance, Elaine ran clear to level the scores, and Susan showed great composure to score from short range just after missing a penalty. 5-4 to City at half time.

The second-half was very tight as both sides inability to score from long-range allowed defences to get on top. Finally Will burst past Terry and although the switch was made Abingdon had a free player behind the basket. 5-5. With both sides visibly tiring, chances at either end were at short supply, but Terry's penalty gave City the slight edge. With less than 5 minutes left, Josh sprinted past his marker, but as the switch was made he was forced to try and find Terry with a random overhead throw. Instead the ball caught an Abingdon hand, and rather fortuitously, Terry was at the penalty spot again. Confidently he completed a hat trick of penalties and Cardiff had just a few minutes to protect a 2-goal lead. Abingdon responded with a barrage of shots, and when Josh reacted too slowly to a rebound the lead was back down to one. City managed to hold on to this lead up until the final 20 seconds when Elaine lost her attacker who equalised from close in. 7-7 and the game headed to penalties.

Cardiff 1 7     Terry 3, Elaine, Ceri, Susan 2
   Abingdon 7 (Cardiff won penalty shoot-out 4-3)

Thanks to everyone who came, particularly the girls who all ran themselves into the ground trying to cover for us being a couple of players short, and to Rob and James who didn't get as many games as they might due to our surplus of guys - and Terry's clever team selection that saw him get to play more than anyone else, determined to be the top scorer!

Cardiff 1 - 1st of 9
Cardiff 2 - 8th of 9

No more pictures, sorry - the weather was lousy!

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