Decisions force outcome ...............

Game 1 - 22nd. May 2010
The first game of the tournament took place at Graheme Park against the Calgary Rangers. The first real action happened early in the game when Alfie Deglan threaded a delightful ball through for a heavily (is that the correct word?) overhung Chuck McGill to run on to. McGill, showing no after effects of the night before, shot and the ball hit the right hand post and just careered over the line. It was so close that it almost came back to hit the left hand post. It was the perfect start to the tournament that the Classics needed. In the 25th. minute the Rangers were level. A right wing attack resulted in a centre flying over the three centrally placed defenders to an unmarked Calgary attacker on the back post. The attacker had no trouble in slotting home the equaliser past the hapless Garry Hackel and the score remained 1-1 at the half. In the 50th. minute, a right wing corner from Pat Rohla was centred directly to the head of Gino Nonni who rose well to send a delightful header home and give the Classics the upper hand once again. The clincher came in the 55th. minute after a right wing throw from Dave Moore found Rohla in space and he cleverly dummied the ball to Nonni who began some intelligent interplay with Rohla. At the end of the play, Nonni found himself alone in the box with just the keeper to beat which he did comprehensively. It was the perfect result for the Classics to take into tomorrows game. Rick Geary was yellow carded for a foul.

Game 2 - 23rd. May 2010
KC Trojans from Edmonton were next up for the Classics at Marshall Field number one. Rick Geary had been bailed out of the local hospital at 12:30am and he had decided that, due to a Thai meal constricting his consumption of alcohol, he had lots of catching up to do on the drinking front. Unfortunately, he needed company to do that so Dave Moore and Tony Short drew the short straws and had to babysit Rick and a large bottle of Glenfiddich until the wee small hours. Saying that, it didn't stop Geary from donning his shirt and earning Moore a $10 income from a side bet with Garry Hackel. On to the game - Gino Nonni carried on from where he left off with a spectacular overhead kick in the first five minutes and it brought a similarly spectacular save from the KC keeper who somehow managed to tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner. Two minutes later it was the Trojans who were causing havock in the Classics defence as they hammered a free kick againt the upright. Chris Arcari was booked for a foul and then the 'tournament turning point' occurred in the 25th. minute after the referee awarded Edmonton a penalty after an innocuous challenge from Hackel. The decision was harsh to say the least and it was even harder to swallow when KC stroked the ball past Hackel for the lead in the game. In the 32nd. minute a left wing corner from KC fell kindly to one of their players who shot the ball to the right of Hackel who never even moved. At 2-0 the game was over so there's no point trying to find anything good to come out of the second half.

Game 3 - 23rd. May 2010
Needing a good win to remain in the tournament, the Classics faced a home town Vernon team who wanted the result themselves to progress to the quarter final stages. What can we say? It was 2-0 to Vernon at half time and the result stood at full time as the Classics literally ran out of steam. The highlight of the tournament occurred near the end of the first half of this game when Garry Hackel was abducted by aliens! The Hack (and he's unreal) just disappeared from the face of the earth. There was no goalkeeper in the nets as the referee blew the half-time whistle. The second half began - still no Hack! The coach sent out several search parties but he was somewhere up there being dissected by the aliens. When they found the remains of his ganglian and then delved into the contents of the bottle in his goalkeepers purse it was too much for them and they dropped him back down. In the meantime Franco had stepped into the nets as cover to start the second half. The Hack had been brainwashed as he came down with some fabricated story about having diarrhoea or something but as usual it was just verbal. To sum up the tournament is difficult as it was 'different' .............

The motel festivities were spoiled by the weather which was unusually cold. Players were ill and without sufficient back-up it was always going to be an uphill struggle. Another four legs would have made a big difference but again it wasn't to be. The Classics were relatively happy with the fixture draw and were hoping to play Cliff Avenue if the final, a team they had beaten in the run-up to the tournament. If it is any crumb of consolation, every team that the Classics played got to the semi finals. The tournament was won 2-0 by Cliff Avenue over KC Trojans. Sincere thanks go to all the players and guest players who made the trip and did their best. There's always next year!