After Wednesday's draw which dropped an African team into our group, we knew off the bat that we had to beat the other local team, St James to stand a chance of progressing. And that we did, when we played them in the first game. Both teams started nervously, but we managed to pick up a 2-1 victory in our debut competitive match!

FIC A, the African team then took to the courts and they rolled over St James 4 or 5-0. I lost count of the number of goals scored but they really left the opponents chasing shadows. Like Steven said, they were so fast that in a fraction of a second, there'd be 3 of them vs 1 GK.

We then took our turn against a very confident FIC, fresh from their mauling of St James and expecting another walkover. But man, you just had to be there to see how the boys rewrote the script - they played their hearts out and ran and chased and tackled and battled for every ball. We even took an unexpected lead which led to wild cheers from the bunch of us on the sidelines, but FIC drew level and the boys hung on for a 1-1. We celebrated the draw as if we had won the EPL.

So we made it unbeaten out of the group stages into the last 16, and faced Goon Institute, yet another African team that had beaten MyRAWK B 2-0 in their group match. We started off amazingly well, and again, took a surprising 2-0 lead in the first half. Unfortunately, our lack of experience and fitness showed in the 2nd; and we leaked in goals like a broken tap and lost 4-2.


MyRAWK B also played well. Our very own Steven scored from the center circle but unfortunately, they lost the 1st game . 2nd game, they played an African team and did well to hold them to a scoreless draw in the first half, but minor defensive lapses saw them concede 2 goals and they lost 2-0. But overall, both our ragtag teams got a lot of respect from the organizers.

We really couldn't have asked for more from both teams. They punched above their weight when it mattered and in occasions where they lacked in physique, strength or speed, they made up for it in spades with their hearts and minds!