On October 12th 2019, Barnes Stormers F.C. sent a side to compete in the London Titans F.C. 11 a side birthday tournament. With a league fixture scheduled for Sunday 13th, it was a very different look side that met on a very wet Saturday morning, ready to compete against the 6 other teams from across the country there that day.
The first match was against a familiar opposition, Soho F.C. a team that Barnes have played a handful of 9 a side friendlies with mixed results. 11 a side, however, is a different game, especially tournament football with 30 minute matches! Barnes Stormers, debuting their new, sky blue BT Sport kit, got off to an admirable start with a draw in the opening game. The rain continued to fall sporadically across the day whilst the results were just as mixed as the weather.
However, with the last group game against Titans FC themselves, and with Barnes only needing a win to reach the playoff final, the squad were more than pumped up. A dominant opening half gave Barnes a solid foundation and some great teamwork led to the opening goal and from there Barnes had to defend well to deal with the Titans desperate onslaught. Barnes Stormers held out for a famous victory that did not come without cost, losing 2 of our subs to injury.
The champagne final ahead, Barnes picked the strongest team possible from the players still fit to play and gave it their all. Despite going behind early on, the team pulled back a goal and in the dying minutes had a penalty awarded. Up Abdi stepped….and missed! But all was not lost, the game went straight to penalties (no extra time here). The 5 penalty takers were picked, Abdi included to redeem his earlier misdemeanour. Unfortunately, goalkeeper James saving a penalty was not enough as two of our own spot kicks were saved meaning Barnes lost 4-3 on penalties.
A disappointing end after a great day with every single squad member playing a huge part (over 210 minutes of football played!) in the tournament and every single player should be pleased with their efforts (even Abdi missing 2 penalties in the tournament overall!).
Squad (left to right): Back Row; Kyle Kingsland (ST), Shaun McLernon (DF), Tom O'Brien (MF), John Syfret (DF), Eddie Woods (DF), Mo (MF), Stefan Drucks (MF), Oz (MF) Front Kneeling; Austin Foster (MF), Tom Jackson (Captain, DF), Cameron Knights (DF), Abdi (MF), Yuasif (MF) Front Lying; James (GK)