Home > News > 2002 > September 2002 > The eighth annual Barnett Waddingham six-a-side football tournament
The eighth annual Barnett Waddingham six-a-side football tournament
Paul Latimer from our Amersham office reports on the eighth annual six-a-side football tournament.
Holding the eighth annual Barnett Waddingham six-a-side football tournament on the Friday of the August Bank Holiday weekend may have seemed a little risky, but everyone got through the traffic and the sun shone on the pitches at Newlands Park near the old Chalfont office. This year the format was a single league system so that all the teams met, playing five minutes each way, with the requirement that there had to be at least one girl per team on the pitch at any time.
Reigning champions Leeds fielded one team, with each of the other UK offices able to bring along two. London split into Pensions Actuarial and Admin/Life/IT, Amersham into Actuarial and Admin/SSAS/BWIL, whilst Cheltenham had the interesting mix of Youngsters and Oldies. Yes, Nick Griggs is officially an Oldie.
Leeds started where they finished last year, with a thumping 5-1 victory over Amersham Actuarial, the other match seeing a respectable draw between the two Cheltenham teams. Amersham Admin/SSAS/BWIL kicked off with a 6-0 win over London Actuarial, and London Admin/Life/IT started with three consecutive 1-0 victories (including their local derby against London Actuarial). Amersham Admin/SSAS/BWIL were in free flowing mode with consecutive 3-0 victories, setting up what surely had to be the decisive match of this year's tournament against London Admin/Life/IT.
Which would prevail, London's rock-solid defence or Amersham's attacking flair? Five minutes of Amersham attacks were constantly repelled, and then London landed a counter-punch and drained all of Amersham's creativity for the remainder of the second half. Four 1-0 wins on the trot, and cries of "one nil to the London Admin/Life/IT, one nil to the London Admin/Life/IT" could almost be heard ringing round Newlands Park.
In the middle of the pack both Cheltenham Oldies and London Actuarial were putting points on the table with some welcome victories, and the Cheltenham Youngsters became the draw specialists with three by the time the tournament finished. Leeds couldn't reproduce their form of last year and would have to make do with a night out clubbing in Watford (not sure if that's a punishment or a reward, you'll have to ask them, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves when we left them in the early hours of Saturday morning). Amersham Actuarial were having a torrid time with five defeats on the bounce, but their moment of glory was fast approaching.
Amersham Admin/SSAS/BWIL kept up the pressure with two more victories and maintained a superior goal difference. London Admin/Life/IT could not afford to lose either of their last two matches, and had to pull out all the stops against Cheltenham Youngsters as they went behind, and only a last minute underarm throw-in inadvertently turned in to his own net by goalkeeper Mike Rolfe kept London on course as the points were shared.
Surely the final game of the night could have only one result as the one unbeaten team London Admin/Life/IT met the team yet to pick up a point: Amersham Actuarial. But the crowd could only stare in amazement as Amersham secured the title for their local rivals by keeping the score at 0-0 and even threatening to win it in the dying seconds.
The players and spectators retreated to the lawns of the manor house for a sumptuous feast and the presentation of the trophy by Andrew Overend, from outgoing champions Leeds, to Amersham Admin/SSAS/BWIL's victorious skipper Steve Adams.
Thanks to all the captains for organising their teams, all the players for making the night a success, especially the girls for putting up with the blokes, to Nick Lipscombe the score-keeper, and to Danny Wilding who refereed non-stop and thus had his annual workout.
See you all next year!
PS For the anoraks the final league table is below:
|
Team |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Amersham Admin/SSAS/BWIL |
5 |
0 |
1 |
17 |
2 |
+15 |
15 |
| 2 |
London Admin/Life/IT |
4 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
+4 |
14 |
| 3 |
Cheltenham Oldies |
3 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
10 |
| 4 |
London Actuarial |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
10 |
-5 |
7 |
| 5 |
Leeds |
2 |
0 |
4 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
| 6 |
Cheltenham Youngsters |
1 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
-1 |
6 |
| 7 |
Amersham Actuarial |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
-13 |
1 |
PPS For any people who have got this far the roll-call of winners is below and shows a very nice mix of offices and one client from when the tournament was 'open', or in other words when we didn't have 200 staff to make up the numbers.
| 1995 |
Chalfont |
| 1996 |
Chalfont Admin/SSAS |
| 1997 |
B.A.T. |
| 1998 |
Cheltenham Actuarial/Secretarial |
| 1999 |
London Admin/Life |
| 2000 |
Cheltenham Actuarial/SIPP |
| 2001 |
Leeds |
| 2002 |
Amersham Admin/SSAS/BWIL |
PPPS Special prize for anyone who can correctly tell me how many times the ball was kicked over the fence during the course of the evening. Shooting practice for all before next year's tournament, or is it because the footballs were lighter this year, made of moon dust, and easier to launch into orbit.
Paul Latimer, September 2002.