Wolves
The Replacements
Nioukyen FC
Club Maurice
Black Hawk United
The Waka Waka All Stars
Pression FC
Short Notice
Undefeated
Qualifying Round
All the teams faced each other in the qualifying round. In the early stages, The Waka Waka All Stars began to rise above the rest. Hot on their trail were Club Maurice, Nioukyen FC, and Black Hawk United. Tournament favourites, The Replacements, who have previously won the Champions Cup in both the Winter 2009 and Spring 2009 tournaments were placed in the bottom half. They had began their tournament with a lackluster performance and paid the price for it.
The Waka Waka All Stars managed to draw with The Replacements, and both Club Maurice and Undefeated defeated The Replacements. It was sweet revenge for Undefeated who, previously as Camion Lichien, fell to The Replacements in the finals of the Winter 2009 Champions Cup and again in the semi-finals of the Spring 2009 Champions Cup. The victory must have also been satisfying for Club Maurice captain, Kenny Lam, who previously goal-kept for The Replacements.
As the qualifying round continued, the teams shifted position. The Replacements unexpectedly finished first in the group followed closely by Nioukyen FC, Club Maurice, and Black Hawk United. These top four teams qualified for the semi-finals. The results for the qualifying round follows.
| Rank | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Replacements | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 16 |
| 2 | Nioukyen FC | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Club Maurice | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 14 |
| 4 | Black Hawk United | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 13 |
| 5 | The Waka Waka All Stars | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 12 |
| 6 | Undefeated | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 7 | Pression FC | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 18 | -11 | 9 |
| 8 | Short Notice | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 7 |
| 9 | Wolves | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 6 |
The qualifying match results were as follows.
Round 1
- The Waka Waka All Stars def. Pression FC 1-0
- Club Maurice drew Undefeated 1-1
- Wolves drew Black Hawk United 2-2
- The Replacements def. Nioukyen FC 1-0
- Pression FC def. Short Notice 2-1
- The Waka Waka All Stars def. Black Hawk United 1-0
- Club Maurice def. The Replacements 1-0
- Nioukyen FC def. Wolves 1-0
- Undefeated def. Short Notice 2-0
- Black Hawk United def. Pression FC 3-1
- The Waka Waka All Stars drew Nioukyen FC
- Club Maurice drew Wolves 0-0
- Black Hawk United def. Short Notice 3-1
- Undefeated def. The Replacements 2-1
- Nioukyen FC def. Pression FC 5-0
- Club Maurice def. The Waka Waka All Stars 2-0
- The Replacements def. Short Notice 3-1
- Black Hawk United def. Nioukyen FC 2-0
- Wolves def. Undefeated 1-0
- Pression FC def. Club Maurice 1-0
- Nioukyen FC drew Short Notice 1-1
- The Replacements def. Wolves 1-0
- Club Maurice def. Black Hawk United 3-1
- The Waka Waka All Stars def. Undefeated 1-0
- Short Notice def. Wolves 1-0
- Nioukyen FC def. Club Maurice 2-0
- The Replacements drew The Waka Waka All Stars 1-1
- Undefeated def. Pression FC 3-1
- Club Maurice def. Short Notice 3-1
- Wolves drew The Waka Waka All Stars 1-1
- The Replacements def. Pression FC 4-0
- Black Hawk United def. Undefeated 3-2
- Short Notice def. The Waka Waka All Stars 3-0
- Pression FC def. Wolves 2-1
- Nioukyen FC def. Undefeated 2-0
- The Replacements def. Black Hawk United 2-1
The Semi-Finals
The first match of the semi-finals pitted Black Hawk United against The Replacements. Black Hawk United had two players unavailable and had just narrowly lost to The Replacements 2-1 in their qualifying round match. In the semi-final match, the teams struggled against each other for quite a while, but once The Replacements scored their first goal late into the match, the flood gates opened and they score another two in quick succession.
Arguably, the more intense match was the second semi-finals match in which Nioukyen FC faced Club Maurice. Having lost 2-0 to Nioukyen FC in the qualifying round match, Club Maurice was determined to emerge victorious in this do-or-die encounter. The teams battled each other, but at the end of normal time, they were both scoreless. A penalty shot was awarded at the very end of the match to Nioukyen FC and penalty-taker Sebastien Lan had the opportunity to take Nioukyen FC to the finals. Sebastian Lan placed his penalty shot to the bottom left of the goals and Club Maurice goal-keeper Kenny Lam dove to his right. Just as it seemed the match was over, Sebastien Lan's shot hit the post.
Club Maurice scored first during extra time and edged closer to the finals, but Nioukyen FC prolonged the match by scoring with 30 seconds of extra time left. With the scores leveled at 1-1, the teams headed to a nervous penalty shoot-out. The shoot-out proved to be a long and drawn out affair, but Club Maurice emerged victorious 11-10.
Semi-Finals
- The Replacements def. Black Hawk United 3-0
- Club Maurice def. Nioukyen FC 1-1 (penalties 11-10)
Finals
The road to the finals had proven long and hard for both The Replacements and Club Maurice. Club Maurice seemed to be the more disadvantaged due to having two players unavailable and their long drawn-out match against Nioukyen FC. However, right at kick-off Club Maurice's Kenny Choon had a superb shot which left The Replacements with a deficit of 1-0. The shot must have been the quickest goal of the tournament.
Starting on the back foot, The Replacements pushed forward hard and laid siege to Club Maurice's goals, However, on the other side of the pitch, Club Maurice took the defensive and stood their ground against The Replacements. The two teams challenged each other and with 3 minutes left, The Replacements managed to get into their passing rhythm and fed the ball to vice captain, Cameron Holmes, who stepped up and leveled the scores.
With the match drawn and the tournament on the line, the two teams carefully attacked each other, each not wanting to prolong the match to extra time and neither wanting to attack too much to leave their defences opened. With a moment of individual brilliance, The Replacements' captain, Jason Cheong, got by three defenders and took a quick shot. His shot got past goal-keeper Kenny Lam, ahd he scored the tournament winner. It was a beautiful shot to finish the tournament upon and to secure The Replacements' reign as the very first Mauritian Futsal Cup champions.
Finals
- The Replacements def. Club Maurice 2-1
Mauritian Futsal Cup 2010 Runners-up
Mauritian Futsal Cup 2010 Champions
Kenny Lam had the following to say about the finals:
"It was a very interesting finals. Both teams played well. I was impressed with the way they [The Replacements] played against us. They kept their calm all the way even though they conceded early in the game. They are good team players. They never gave up. Unluckily, we went on penalties in the semi-finals and our players were exhausted. Our legs were tired and we found it hard to perform. Well done to The Replacements."
Jason Cheong also put forth his opinion of the finals:
"We couldn't have had the worst start to the game when we conceded a goal straight from kick off. From that point on we knew it was going to be a tough game and our opponent meant business. Club Maurice had the psychological advantage after beating us 1-0 in the group stage.
The Replacements’ reputation was at stake but we continued on fighting even though being a goal down. We played with great fighting spirit and team cohesion. We never gave up even though it wasn't going our way. I knew persistence would pay off. When we were finally able to break the defence down and score the equaliser, it was all downhill from there. As captain of the team, it was a sensational feeling to score the winning goal and send my team to glory. It was a memorable final and magnificent performance from both teams.
Thank you to all the players ho participated, the spectators who came to support and cheer their team and also MKS Melborune for organising this event. It couldn't be possible with those essential people."
Mauritian Futsal Cup 2010 Champions and Runners-up
With the tournament completed and the first Mauritian Futsal Cup determined, MKS Melbourne wishes to thank all participants and supporters, and also wanted to advise players to start training hard for the next Champions Cup Tournament -- the first of 2010!
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