Sportslighting Win the Winter Business Cup
”It was well planned and we started and finished exactly how we wanted it to be!” were the words of Sportslighting team Manager Kim Prestwood, as his side celebrated the lifting of the Devon FA Winter Business Cup .
Sponsors and partners of the Devon FA played 25 games of football in a two-hour spell at Coach Road, in what was a very talented, fun and passionate environment to see who would lift the second Devon FA Business Cup, this being the Winter version.
The Business Cup is played is a seven a-side tournament with three rolling and boy was there a lot of football there to enjoy, with several spectators enjoying the action.
A mix of hard-core players together with those that were only remembering how they used to play was the menu of the tournament, played in a competitive but friendly atmosphere.
Every team that played were all guaranteed a minimum of six games to play and controlled and managed by the Devon FA volunteers and match officials.
Competition Manager, Paul Morrison commented: "We knew the Competition would go ahead because of the terrific artificial pitch here at Coach Road, but the real bonus was the weather was very mild and more importantly dry and good for those watching and taking part. The teams that took part all played their part and I’m delighted to say that the Summer Business Cup is already taking bookings for teams and scheduled for Friday 12th July".
On the field it was who could stop the skills shown by Sportslighting and Devon FA as both sides made it to first and second place in the group, thus booking their place in the Semi Finals at a comfortable amount of ease.
Joining them were the teams from Pro Direct, a team that played lovely, controlled football with a strong defence and MJ Evans & Co Accountants who started well but struggled at the end of the group games but squeezed thru to the Semi Finals.
The Corner Flag Bar SNS side were certainly the fun team to watch and certainly made sure their rota tactics made sure everybody played regardless of the result and to their credit they certainly enjoyed the 1-0 victory over Bayside, which was their only victory of the night.
Lovell Soccer and Bayside finished just outside the Semi Final positions and that meant they played for 5th & 6th place respectively, which ended with Lovell gaining the upper hand of a 4-1 victory over the pink shirted Bayside boys who were voted most Sporting Team of the night from the Match Officials.
The Semi Finals were the story of how two teams sadly ran out of legs, Devon FA could not cope with the ever-running team of Pro Direct who played lovely football to defeat them easily 3-0. The second Semi was a little one -sided too as Sportslighting took an early 2-0 lead and then waited for MJ Evans to try and break them down but to no avail as time caught up with many of the old boys of MJ and were knocked out 2-0.
The Final was a classic Final with Sportslighting surging into a 2-0 lead and that despite having to change their regular keeper but back came Pro Direct pumping the Lighting goal with many chances. A goal was pulled back but for the very fast Pro Direct team they just couldn’t find the equaliser, leaving Sportslighting hanging on to a 2-1 full time score and becoming our Winter Business Cup Champions. A terrific game to end the night on and then it was straight into the bar to celebrate or let tired legs recover.
My thanks to all our Sponsors and Partners who took part, together with our three referees, Phil Willer, Reg Cross and Sam Rhodes and also Ali our photographer who has some terrific pictures too…
Tournament Awards
Fun Team – Corner Flag Bar SNS
Best Player – Scott (Goalkeeper) Devon FA
Best Fans Support – Bayside
Most Sporting Team - Bayside
Most Organised Team - Sportslighting
Best Game - Sportslighting vs Pro Direct
Plans for more Devon FA Business Cup Events are scheduled to be announced in the next few weeks.
Report written by - Paul Morrison, Business Cup Competition Manager