Nov 06 - Special Olympics Gib Win Gareth Cowin Memorial Trophy
International futsal came to Gibraltar on Saturday when, in an exciting competition, Special Olympics Gibraltar walked away as the champions winning the 4th Gareth Cowin Memorial Trophy, sponsored by the Gibraltar Football Association.
Teams from Warrington, Algeciras and Special Olympics Isle of Man travelled to the Tercentenary Sports Hall to participate in the round robin tournament and spectators were treated to an impressive display of futsal skills.
SO Gibraltar got off to a flying start when they beat the Isle of Man 1 - 0 in the first game of the day. A cracking goal by Gianni Ochello separated the teams and Gibraltar went straight into their second game on a high. This was against Warrington who put up a tougher fight and were obviously going to be the team to beat, but young Giovanni Yeo had a great game scoring two goals which gave Gibraltar the victory 2 - 0.
Algeciras then played the strong Warrington team who bounced back to win 6 - 0 over the Spanish opposition. With only a short break Algeciras then played SO Isle of Man and the Manx team had their best game of the morning, winning 4 - 0. However they then had to face the Warrington team who were just too strong for them and in a slightly one-sided game Warrington won 8 - 0. In the final game of the morning, SO Gibraltar came back on to play the Algeciras team and went to lunch on a high after winning 4 - 0. A great long goal by Nicholas Danino was closely followed by two more goals from Gianni Ochello and rounded off when Giovanni Yeo then found the net.
After lunch in the first play off SO Gibraltar were again pitted against Algeciras and found the going a little easier with a goal by Sam Hook closely followed by two each from Gianni Ochello and Giovanni Yeo, who by this time were reaching their peak form. Spectators waited anxiously to see whether either would get a hat-trick and despite both finding the woodwork it looked unlikely when, with the very last kick of the game, Giovanni found the net again with a scorching shot to claim the only hat-trick of the day, leaving the final score 6 - 0.
In the second play off Warrington took an early lead against the Isle of Man who fought back bravely with goals of their own but each time they came back Warrington responded in kind winning in the end by 5 goals to 3. That left the final between the home side and the visitors from Warrington, who had looked the two stronger teams throughout the day. There was little to separate the teams in the first half and despite being closely fought it ended goalless. It looked as though the second half was going the same way when, with 3 and a half minutes left to play, GIovanni Yeo found the net with a great shot following it up 30 seconds later with a second goal which sealed the victory. Warrington had not given up and in the final seconds of the match they scored a late consolation goal to leave the final score 2 - 1.
After much celebration trophies were presented to all players by SO Gibraltar Chairman, Denis Lafferty, and the Gareth Cowin Cup was presented to the Gibraltar team by Gareth's father Kevin who came over from the Isle of Man especially for the event. As tradition dictates Gibraltar can now look forward to hosting the tournament again next year.
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