Taff's memories of a hectic day

It was a triumphant day for Cardiff City as they claimed a maiden tournament victory at Cardiff University's annual freshers' jamboree. City fielded two teams with the experienced guys slightly outnumbered by the droves of new and not-quite-so-new players. While most of us took it in turns to play for either team, it just so happened that most of our best performances were for winners Cardiff City 2, while Cardiff City 1 claimed 6th from a total of twelve teams.

As befits tournaments designed for introducing new players to the game, the morning match-ups were somewhat disjointed affairs, but while City's attack struggled to find some rhythm, the defence held firm and the 6 morning matches finished withouta single loss to our name. City 2 had won their group with two wins and a draw, while City 1 finished second in their pool with a win and two draws. The highlights of the morning were undoubtedly Aidan rattling in his first for the club from way out to secure a draw against the hosts, and Kay's opportunist goal from short-range in her first tournament.

The morning progressed with beginners from all sides finding their feet and showing some nice touches; for Cardiff Abi was particularly unlucky not to score her first for the club as she discovered her ability to beat opponents, while Gwenno claimed no end of rebounds. With Elaine stepping into Terry's 'team organiser' shoes with increasing tactical sense, the only thing left going downhill was Taff's shooting, which went from average to downright shoddy.

With Dave Walker joining Taff in the 'can't shoot for toffee' division it was left to Susie to score her first goal for the club with a nice running-in shot to get us going in the quarter final against Cardiff Uni, then a textbook running-in shot from James and a nice free pass move from Elaine took us through the semi against Notts Uni.

There were some familiar faces across the court as we lined up for the final, with Sian and Susan playing for the Cardiff Uni old boys team, ex-member Dan Greenwood marking Taff, and a small handful of other Cardiff City occasionals in the side. Inevitably, with both sides knowing the others so well the final was an extremely defensive affair, but City rose to the occasion, with James and Rachel the stars of an excellent first half defensive performance. It was finally left to old-timers Dave and Taff to clinch the 2-0 win with a couple of short range efforts near the end.

Videos (exciting ain't it?)

• Taff and Aidan demonstrate how to miss on both sides of the hoop
• Dave sinks the winner in the final

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