Good bye Qatar

Thank you to the British Council of Qatar for looking after us so well.
Thank you to Mr Richmond, Mr Hurst and Mr Marshall for taking the trip.
But most importantly, thank you to the team for making it such a fantastic week - We hope you enjoyed this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Parents - please remember to meet us at Manchester Airport at 12:45.

Have a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

A few quotes from the week

Kyle Clegg - "It was alright that, but the food was a bit foreigny"

Laurence Gard - Head Boy, Future Geography Scholar - "Is the beach near the sea?"

Declan Dabrowski - "Come on England! We will definitely win Brazil 2016"

Mr Marshall - "You need to wear your full tracksuits." - Hanaan Awais "Does that include the top?" - Mr Marshall - "Yes it does." - Bradley Cruse - "Does that include the bottoms?"

Jack Flanagan - "Will second place be decided on head-to-head results?" Discussing two teams that hadn't played each other.

Ellis Forshaw - "That's norty"

Adam Wilk - "They've read it!" - When screaming from the field of play a throw-in technique which we hadn't even done properly.

Mr Marshall - "The pigeon outside my room is died bright orange." - Ryan Hall - "Seriously?

Mr Richmond - "They don't seem to have UK sizes here."

Mr Hurst - "He's my sister's brother........Wait...........No...........I'm my sister's brother, he's her husband."

Mr Marshall - "What's that in Euros?"

The last day

The Government's Parade

A few of the locals????????

Last Supper

National Day in Qatar is a surreal experience - the parade due to start at 7am, began at 8:45am once the Amir decided to arrive. The traffic is at a standstill virtually all day. The balloons due for the balloon release at 8pm were held in customs. The journey home in a bouncing bus being squirted with shaving foam and funny string as cars passed with people sitting on the roofs, and finally a most spectacular firework display that started only 10 minutes late. A day never to be forgotten.

MGS Champions

MGS beat QESS 6-1 to become the International Hadaf Tournament Champions.

Going to bed now as getting up at 5am to celebrate Qatar's National Day.

Night night everyone.

Day 6

With no involvement in tonight's final day 6 has been about getting to know Qatar:

The Centre of Islamic Culture

Learning how to pray in a mosque.

Oldham Hulme being written in Arabic.

In the souq for lunch and shopping

Getting "Dec'd" out like the locals

Now to watch the final - MGS v QESS

Semi-Final Report

 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

Semi-Final Day - a bit of culture

Museum of Islamic Art

The Damien Hirst Relic Exhibition

In the Museum of Islamic Art

Damien Hirst exhibition

The Museum of Islamic Art

The Museum of Islamic Art

News Flash

Other Scores

Shrewsbury 2  QESS 1

MGS 2  Evo Sport 0

Its derby day in Qatar - Hulme play MGS in the semi-final.

QESS play Evo Sport in the other game.

Matches to be played on 16 December at Aspire Sports.

Shrewsbury turned down the option to fly home early and will watch the matches.

Big Game Pics

Unfortunately, the photographer failed to take any other pictures due to nail biting!

Match 3 - Semi or Bust

As the first of the three final matches, we knew that a win would see us through to the semi-final. But, conditions were not conducive to good football as a strong wind blew down the length of the pitch. The locals claimed it was cold, but to us it was a pleasant summer's evening as Hulme and the American School of Doha took to the field.

Hulme played with the wind in the first half and struggled to deal with its effect on the ball. Both full backs Jack “Batter It” Flannagan and Hanaan “Hammer” Awais tried to play the ball down the channels but Ryan Hall and Danyaal Naeem struggled to catch up with it as it was carried on the breeze. Both teams struggled in the conditions and Hulme appeared edgy knowing that a win would see them through, so there was no real pattern to the game. As a side, Hulme sat too deep and gave ASD too much space. As messages went on to the field to push up Adam “Lone Ranger” Wilk, began to put the back four under pressure and encouraged by this Ryan Hall picked the pocket of the left full back, rampaged into the box and slid the ball past the despairing keeper to make it 1-0 to Hulme. This should have buoyed the team, but they continued to struggle to get a flow to the play because of the extenuating circumstances. 1-0 at half time.

The half time team talk consisted of getting the team to push on and squeeze the play and in fairness in the second half things improved. Declan Dabrowski, Ellis Forshaw and Aaron Rogers pushed on in the middle of the park, and as Danyaal “Drimp” Naeem threw up off the pitch changes were made: Hamzah "Tonto" Aslam replaced the Lone Ranger and Ben Walton replaced Danyaal. ASD continued to knock the ball around well, but once again the wall of Kyle Clegg, Laurence Gard and Will Brown limited the chances they had. At the other end chances were difficult to come by. On the bench, finger nails were down to the cuticles; one goal is never enough. Ryan Hall broke down the right, put a fine ball into the corridor or uncertainty (England cricketers take note!) and at the back post unmarked and with an open net in front Hamzah passed the ball into the net to make it 2-0. Come on ref blow the whistle (owtte) were the only thoughts on our minds and thankfully he did. Hulme make the semi-finals, but to play who? MGS or Shrewsbury?

Scorers:  Ryan Hall    Hamzah Aslam

Man of the Match: Ryan Hall

Manager’s Comment: Congratulations to the team for reaching the semi-finals, the boys knew what they had to do today and delivered the result, credit to the defensive unit for a second clean sheet in a row and to the whole squad for an unbeaten group phase.

Day 4 in pics

In the Souq

Pet Shop Corner

Doha by day

The Squad

Doha by night

What a day - Day 3

A win against Evo.
A photograph with the world cup trophy.
The Sheik Faisal Museum (a spot of culture)
and an authentic Middle Eastern meal at Afghan Brothers.

Game 2 - A few photos

A friendly handshake before the game

Half time - water and focus!

When a rest is needed?

Match 2 - Evo Sport

So with one point in the bank, a win would be needed in the second game to put pressure on the other teams in the group, but what could we do against a side rumoured to be the best in Qatar outside of professional football?

Evo kicked off and immediately got into their passing game, knocking the ball nicely around the back four. But, the Hulme players who had been drilled in keeping their banks of four kept resolute and showed great concentration. Laurence "Nivelle" Guard and Kyle Clegg controlled the back four with Bradley Cruse and Jack Flanagan. Ross "Hugo" Whitworth bossed the midfield with Ellis Forshaw and Ben Walton. On the flanks Hamzah Aslam and Danyaal Naeem held their defensive positions superbly, but also added a threat going forward, so much so that when a cross from Ben Walton found Hamzah on the edge of the box a great flicked first touch took him past the defence and then he fired into the bottom corner beyond the 6ft 4 Evo keeper - a "norty" finish forged on the fields of Chapel Road. Hulme remained calm and kept great shape. The movement of the Evo front three was excellent, but Hulme remained un-phased making the score at half time 1-0.

With a couple of forced changes at half time the message was simple, concentrate and do exactly what you are doing. An early scare from the kick off saw Hulme pushed back, but some last ditch tackles and big blocks kept Hulme's goal in tact, but then disaster - penalty to Evo. Their best player stepped up to take it; gave Will Brown the eye and played the ball with pace to Will's right. Will "Inspector Gadget" Brown sprang and palmed the ball away, with Hanaan Awais making sure the ball was truly cleared. At that point Evo began to lose heart, the Hulme system was frustrating them and they couldn't  get beyond the defensive lines. Aaron Rogers and Declan Dabrowski added fresh legs in the middle of the park and Adam Wilk continued to run his legs off upfront. As Evo pressed for the equaliser Ryan Hall found space on the left and could run the clock down with his bursts down the flank, on the opposite side Saif Ansari did the same. The referee put whistle in mouth and blew - 1-0 Hulme!

Scorer: Hamzah Aslam
Man of the Match: Ellis Forshaw

Manager's comment: The boys demonstrated their resilience and played superbly on the counter attacker. Such a good result after making four changes to the starting line up shows the strength in depth of Hulme's touring party.

Get in!!!!!!!!!!

Other results: MGS 6  QESS 1      Shrewsbury 11 (Eleven) American School 1

Images from Match 1

Ready for the game

Ready for the toss.

Tired but not down!

Debate at the back post

Goal Scorer Wilk

Match 1 - Report

They say that in tournament football - don't lose your first game. So with little known about QESS (Qatar English Speaking Schools), the quandary for the coaching staff was do we  play our free flowing football, or should we just park the bus?

In the cool night air (21 degrees) under the floodlights of pitch 7 of Aspire Academy, the team settled into a good pattern of football with Hanaan Awais and Ellis Forshaw linking well down the right flank and "Rocket" Ryan Hall and Bradley Cruse rampaging down the left, but not quite being able to deliver the killer pass to the lone striker of Hamzah Aslam. As time passed the fine technical ability of the QESS team pushed Hulme back, but some staunch defence from Kyle Clegg and Laurence Gard and a fine single handed flying save by Will Brown meant that at half time honours remained even at 0-0.

With large quantities of water taken on-board over half time the midfield trio of Declan Dabrowski, Ross Whitworth and Aaron Rogers began to find more space and started passing the ball in quick triangles. A couple of half chances came Hulme's way but still no break through. At the other end the defence remained resolute. As changes were made Danyaal Naeem and Adam Wilk added a more direct threat and with ten minutes left a perfectly weighted through ball from Aaron Rogers set Wilky free and he calmly slotted the ball past the keeper to leave it nestling in the bottom corner. Could we hold out? Saif Ansari and Jack Flanagan were added to bolster the defence and Ben Walton replaced the exhausted Declan in the centre. With just five minutes to go one of QESS better players, found himself in open space twenty-five yards out and he unleashed an unstoppable drive beyond the outstretched despairing hand of Will in goal. Both teams pressed for the winner, but to no avail and so the final score 1-1.

Goal Scorer: Adam Wilk
Man of the Match: Ross Whitworth

Managers opinion: I'm proud of the boys performance and they demonstrated what a good passing side they can be. With a little bit more luck in front of goal we could have won.

Other results: Shrewsbury 0 Evo Sport 3        MGS 6  American School 0

Day 2 - a bit of light training in 29 degrees

Night at the Embassy

As the sun set over Qatar, the British Ambassador entertained us in his back garden:

Some images from Day 1

A bit of shopping - Water?
 It's only 28 degrees

Pitch inspection - It'll do!!!!!

The Torch Hotel (Not ours!)

First visit to the Aspire complex

Now off to the British Embassy for a "welcome" barbecue.

Ready for departure to Qatar

Leaving on a jet plane .....