Tony Boys reflects

Village Manchester travelled to compete in the 11th IGLFA World Lesbian and Gay Football Championships held at Chiswick West London. After an overly long opening ceremony on the Sunday night our squad left the Scala nightclub to take up residency at their accommodation scattered across London.

The opening match against Street Boys Munich was an 11a.m. kick-off the following morning. Munich proved to be intimidating both in stature and gamesmanship - the most unsportsmanlike of all the sides we met throughout the tournament would have pushed Greg Louganis hard had they been competing at their favoured sport. 1 - 0 up at half time through a Matty Haywood penalty Village where unable to take control of the game and eventually lost this opening encounter 2 - 1.

Each game lasted 25 minutes each way and after the nervous display of the morning it was against Arc En Ciel Paris that Village started playing their usual flowing football. At half time Village led through a Matty Haywood special - clean through on goal he finished with a shot low into the corner of the goal. Second half and the swirling wind changed to gusts towards the Village goal and Neil in the Village net put in a fine display. The result was put beyond doubt when Ryan O'Connor scored from close range. All things considered a satisfying start to the tournament against two good teams.

Day two and the morning fixture against London Apprentices was an English style encounter with Village grinding out a 2 - 1 victory. Ryan scored to bring the sides level and John Cassidy put the result beyond doubt scoring directly from a corner on the right.

That afternoon Village played in a very one-sided encounter against Absolutely Orange Holland. Village dominated but conceded a penalty in the first half which was saved superbly by Neil. In the second half , 90% of the play took place in the Dutch half but with Village putting together attack after attack Absolutely Orange held on for a undeserved 0 - 0 draw.

Day three and the morning encounter against Cream Team Cologne was a very tactical encounter with Keith marking their play- maker out of the game completely. Things were going very well until Neil suffered an horrific injury when rushing off his line to save. After sustaining a blow to his head he was rushed to hospital. Dave Warde deputised in goal and Village maintained their composure to fight out a 0 - 0 draw.

In the afternoon spirits were low due to the Neil's injury but Village took the lead in the first half against Hotlanta USA through Matty Haywood from close range.Village were well in control and in the second half spirits where lifted when Neil returned to the side-lines to watch with the final score remaining 1 - 0.

Day four and a game against the tournament favourites London Lions. It seemed as if Village had left their footballing heads in bed and deservedly lost 2 - 0. As the results of other games filtered through it became evident that Village were almost certainly through to the semi-finals and would probably be able to choose who they would face. This decision was unable to be made as soon as would have been liked due to matches suspended due to a heavy thunderstorm, but shortly before kick off against San Francisco Spikes we discovered that anything but a win would confirm that we would play our preferred opponents Cologne in the semi-final the following day. Fielding an under strength side with key players rested Village where able to lose 3 - 0 safe in the knowledge that we were through against the desired opponents with a preferable kick off time of 4p.m. giving maximum time for those injured to recover.

Friday afternoon and the nervous tension was almost too much to bear as Village took the field against their German opponents and after unfortunately falling 2- 0 behind at half time heads dropped and Village ran out 6 - 0 losers.

Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and it was a case of who was fit to play in the 3rd/4th Play off final against San Francisco. A spirited display led to a very tired and injured team running out 1 - 0 losers to finish in 4th place - our highest position in this competition.

Given that Village Manchester have a small squad and carried various injuries throughout the tournament the final position of fourth is one of which all involved can be proud. Jez Ure was his usual inspirational self in midfield throughout the tournament and showed his "never say die" attitude when playing as a lone striker in our last game when he could hardly walk! Neil in goal was a revelation and new boy Stuart performed admirably when featuring. Keith played a good tournament until his knee injury slowed his usual style and Matt scored two well-taken goals and a penalty. Ryan scored two and created many chances and John Cassidy scored our other goal from a corner and was solid in defence. Tony at right back was an inspiration and Darren played very well along with our captain Dave Warde in central defence. Dave Regan harried the opposition defence and Steve played well especially early on in the tournament. Robert Harrison came on and performed admirably especially in the last game against San Francisco. Simon Wheale played his usual part and Gary Poole and John Bridges can be proud of the parts they played in helping Village to fourth place. Last and by no way least a special mention to Andy Bates our physio and kit man for the tournament. His support was gratefully appreciated throughout. Thanks to him and to all those who gave their support from the sidelines on this rollercoaster ride which was the IGLFA Gay Football Championships - Thanks to you all. It all bodes well for the future of Village Manchester Football Club.