The 8 teams were divided into two groups of four in the qualifying round. The tournament organizers attempted to create two equally balanced group with the information they had available about each team. Winter 2009 winners, The Replacements, and runners-up, Camion Lichien, were purposely placed in different groups as number 1 and 2 seeds respectively.
Group 1 was composed of:
The Replacements
Tombeau Bay FC
Lekip Gros Ventre (LGV)
Pression FCGroup 2 was made up of:
Camion Lichien
Club Maurice Underdogs
Hockey Pitch FC
Nothing to LoseThe qualifying round proved to be tougher competition than anticipated, particularly in Group 2. The ladder and results for the group matches are as follows.
Qualifying Round - Group 1
In Group 1, The Replacements once again cruised to first position. Notably, they won all of their matches and goal-keeper James Bush kept a clean sheet for the entire group stage. After the group stage matches, Tombeau Bay FC and Pression FC were even in second place. Penalty shoot-outs had to be employed to separate the two teams. Pression FC goal-keeper and captain Hughes Wong put his teams through to the semi-final by saving 3 penalties whilst Tombeau Bay FC goal-keeper Anthony Koon managed to save only one shot. Lekip Gros Ventre was the weakest team in the group as they did not win any of their matches and failed to put any point on the scoreboard.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Replacements | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| 2 | Pression FC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 4 |
| 3 | Tombeau Bay FC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 4 |
| 4 | Lekip Gros Ventre | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| Round # | Game # | Match Details | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | The Replacements def. Pression FC | 3 - 0 |
| 1 | 2 | Tombeau Bay FC def. Lekip Gros Ventre | 1 - 0 |
| 2 | 1 | The Replacements def. Lekip Gros Ventre | 2 - 0 |
| 2 | 2 | Pression FC drew Tombeau Bay FC | 0 - 0 |
| 3 | 1 | The Replacements def. Tombeau Bay FC | 3 - 0 |
| 3 | 2 | Pression FC def. Lekip Gros Ventre | 1 - 0 |
Qualifying Round - Group 2
In Group 2, newcomers Hockey Pitch FC proved to be a stronger side than expected and made their way to first place. In a surprise turn of events, Camion Lichien were able to defeat rivals Club Maurice Underdogs and manouvered themselves into second place just above them. Nothing to Lose found themselves at the bottom of the group with no victories.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hockey Pitch FC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | Camion Lichien | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | Club Maurice Underdogs | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Nothing to Lose | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 16 | -12 | 0 |
| Round # | Game # | Match Details | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Hockey Pitch FC def. Camion Lichien | 5 - 2 |
| 1 | 2 | Club Maurice Underdogs def. Nothing To Lose | 6 - 0 |
| 2 | 1 | Camion Lichien def. Nothing To Lose | 4 - 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Hockey Pitch FC drew Club Maurice Underdogs | 2 - 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Camion Lichien def. Club Maurice Underdogs | 6 - 0 |
| 3 | 2 | Hockey Pitch FC def. Nothing to Lose | 6 - 3 |
Semi-Finals
The semi-finals saw the 1st ranked team from Group 1, The Replacements, against the 2nd ranked team from Group 2, Camion Lichien. Similarly, the 1st ranked team from Group 2, Hockey Pitch FC, faced the 2nd ranked team from Group 1, Pression FC.
The 1st semi-final was a repeat of the Winter 2009 final with The Replacements battling Camion Lichien. It was a repeat performance also as The Replacements comfortably defeated Camion Lichien 2 - 1. The Replacements goal-keeper James Bush lost his clean sheet against Camion Lichien's David Ip. The 2nd semi-final, Hockey Pitch FC versus Pression FC, proved to be a one-sided affair as Pression FC could not stop the avalanche of goals from Hockey Pitch FC. The match ended with Hockey Pitch FC winning 12 - 0.
Semi-final results:
Semi-Finals #1: The Replacements def. Camion Lichien 2 - 1
Semi-Finals #2: Hockey Pitch FC def. Pression FC 12 - 0
Third Place
Camion Lichien battled against Pression FC for third position. Camion Lichien proved why they were worthy of being finalists last tournament by defeating the newcomers 3 - 1.
Finals
The much anticipated final match between The Replacements and Hockey Pitch FC was every bit climatic and nail-biting as such a match should be. The two teams struggled against each other until the bitter end and kept spectators glued to the match.
The Replacements headed into the finals with their 6-man squad against Hockey Pitch FC's 7-man squad. Amidst rumours of a weakened side with striker Cameron Holmes missing and The Replacements undoubtedly questioning their decision not to bring a 7-th man, The Replacements needed to reassert themselves as champions by defeating the newcomers. Hockey Pitch FC had proven themselves to be a very offensive team scoring 13 goals in the group matches and 12 alone against Pression FC in the semi-final. However, The Replacements had the better goal difference and goal-keeper James Bush had only conceded one goal in the entire tournament so far.
Once the game started, the two teams carefully measured and tested each other. Then came the struggle to put the first point on the board. First blood was awarded to the The Replacements Nicholas Sin fed captain Jason Cheong the ball from midfield and he put a powerful long shot pass Hockey Pitch FC goal-keeper Minh Nguyen. Shortly afterwards, with a moment of individual brilliance, Jason Cheong dribbled past three opponents to score once more.
Leading 2 - 0, The Replacements relaxed for a moment and that proved to be a grievous error as Hockey Pitch FC scored two successive goals in 30 secs. Regretting their mistake, The Replacements continued to battle for a third and hopefully final goal. However, Hockey Pitch FC managed to keep them at bay and drew the match 2 - 2.
In extra time, Hockey Pitch FC scored a further two goals with the score line 4 -2, The Replacements were in despair. It seemed that their hard work and possibility of winning two consecutive Champions Cup tournaments were slipping away fast. A faint glimmer of hope appeared when The Replacements' newest striker, Duong Pham scored from another of Nicholas Sin's electrifying passes. Being behind by only one goal, The Replacements were desperate to score once more.
With time running out fast and what must surely have been the last play of the match, it seemed all was lost for The Replacements. However, striker Jason Cheong took a last desperate shot at Hockey Pitch FC's goals in that last play and, through a deflection, miraculously managed to score. With the scores level 4 - 4, penalty shoot-outs were necessary to separate the teams.
Both goal-keepers, James Bush and Minh Nguyen were unable to stop their opponents' first four shots. With Hockey Pitch FC's last player taking his shot, James Bush steeled himself and managed to block the shot and give his team an advantage. This gave The Replacements' last penalty-taker the opportunity to win the match and tournament by scoring. As fate would have it, this fell to rookie Michael Whan Kan, the youngest player in the tournament. Taking the shot, it would seem that he was unperturbed by the events surrounding him, however, when asked later, he said "I'm sure I lost 2 years of my life worrying about that shot!". Michael Whan Kan proved himself worthy to be on the winning team as he put away his penalty, won the match, and won the tournament with his shot.
Hockey Pitch FC, as a new team in the tournament had put up a valiant effort against the current champions, however, The Replacements were able to show why they deserved to win the tournament twice in a row.
At the end of the tournament, the Golden Boot was awarded to Ahmed Azzam, who scored 9 goals in the entire tournament. The Player of the Tournament award went to Jason Cheong, with 3 votes.
With excitement still in the air, teams are already looking forward to the next tournament.
