Derby day in Qatar saw us travel 3501 miles to play Manchester Grammar in the semi-final of the International Hadaf Cup. The boys knew it would be a tough test, but were as prepared as they possibly could be.
Once again there was a breeze blowing down the length of the pitch and it was in our favour in the first half. The opening exchanges were tense and once again Hulme had great shape with, Ross Whitworth, Declan "super tanker" Dabrowski and Aaron "it wasn't me" Rogers competing well in the centre of midfield. MGS had much of the play but didn't really penetrate the back four as the two full backs of Hanaan Awais and Bradley "mini me" Cruse cut out the long diagonal passes. After fifteen minutes Hulme began to retreat deeper, giving MGS more space to push on. This isolated Adam Wilk and put the defence under too much pressure. Will Brown made some great saves, but in the twenty-fourth minute MGS penetrated the defence and took the lead; Laurence Gard and Kyle "Coultard" Clegg made valiant attempts to block a drive from the edge of the box. Heads dropped a little, but not enough to lose shape as had happened too often this season. Hulme rallied and began to push on. Ellis "Bilbo" Forshaw made the MGS keeper push a shot over the bar and Hamzah Aslam drew an acrobatic parry from the keeper. Unfortunately, though we failed to break through so the score at half time was 0-1.
Emergency measures had been made just before half time as Bradley Cruse went in goal after Will Brown's knee gave way after a magnificent save. The team needed lifting at the break and again they started the second half well. Ben "Midas" Walton had bolstered the midfield and Jack Flanagan replaced Bradley in defence, but with the wind at their backs MGS began to push us back again and we couldn't clear our lines. Two goals came in quick succession and we found ourselves 3 down with twenty minutes to play. Saif "Long John" Ansari was put on the right to add a different threat as Ryan Hall continued to storm down the left and Danyaal Naeem pressed the MGS defence, but again Hulme could not find the end product. As we chased the game MGS killed us off with a fourth. But the boys never gave up and with nearly the last kick of the game Saif nearly scored a consolation goal, but a last gasp tackle stopped a certain goal. The game ended 0-4.
The boys were down, but should be complemented for far exceeding expectations.
Scorers:
Man of the Match: Hanaan Awais
Manager's comment: We have finally been undone by a combination of bad luck and very strong opposition. Nevertheless, I am very proud of all the boys for their tremendous attitude and never-say-die spirit. The team have bonded magnificently and are a credit to themselves and the school. My thanks to Gus "4-course-brekky" Hurst and Andy "The Tourist" Marshall for their support and guidance. Well done, Hulme.
Other score: QESS 3 Evo Sport 2
