The Oxfordshire Construction Cup 2011

Saturday the 29th of January 2011 was a big day of cup action, not the FA cup, but the prestigious Oxfordshire Construction Cup.

A 10-man strong Beard team braved the arctic conditions to attend a charity tournament organised by Nightingale Associates to raise funds for the Sobell House Hospice. The competition included 17 teams with a combination of architects, consultants, estate agents and construction firms.

Group C was dominated by the fluent passing of Beard, who topped the group without conceding a goal in 4 matches! The rigid defence made up of Nick Kent, Nigel Rowe, Colin Robinson and Harry Giggs (formerly known as Gary Higgs) proved too strong for the opposition. Midfield dynamos Karl Hogg, Luke Bennett, Lee Flashman, and Connor Merritt turned the match’s into what looked like a training exercise with effortless passing in the middle of the park. Strikers Adam Brooks and Ollie Byne exploited the lack of linesmen and completely dominated the opposing defences.

Beard FC then went on to win their Quarter Final match 1-0, only to come across local construction rivals Leadbitter in the Semi-final. Two fantastic (and rare) strikes from Harry Giggs helped Beard to a 2-0 victory over our rivals! 

Still yet to concede a goal, Beard went 1-0 up in the final, but with only a minute left on the clock ‘Kemp and Kemp’ scored a scrappy equalizer taking the game into penalties. Unfortunately, the two minutes spent practicing penalties failed to help us and we were beaten 4-3 in the shootout. It was a great effort from all players who look to have secured their places for the Inter-Office Squad due to be announced in June.  

It was a great day enjoyed by all and we helped to raise money for a fantastic charity. A big thank you to all of those who bought raffle tickets.