5-a-side football in Nottingham

Cardiff A, from left: Ise (Mid), Saiful (Fwd), Puteh (Mid), Arn (Fwd, Captain), Kuwe (Def), Azad (GK), Arief (Mid), Jufri (Mid)

‘Cardiff Road to Notts’08’ was a project launched by the Cardiff University Malaysian Football Club (CUMSFC) in hope of winning the most prestigious football event organised by Malaysians in the UK. This year’s Nottingham game was my fourth attempt. We did quite well in the previous 3 attempts, but was unfortunate to proceed to the 2nd round due to low goal difference.

Training sessions were more regular this year. It was normal to have at least a 2-hour session per week, but we also had 3 sessions per week occasionally. A few new faces from the 1st year breeds came to the sessions, however, very few or almost none of them impressed me with exceptional or individual skills. Which means, the individual strength of the team will rely heavily on the more experienced players.

Cardiff sent 3 teams, namely Cardiff A, Cardiff B and Cardiff Keluarga. Cardiff A was meant to be for the best players among the undergraduates while Cardiff B was mainly for newcomers to get some experience playing a competetive 5-a-side football. The Cardiff Keluarga team is composed by the postgraduates and working class Malaysians in Cardiff, some of whom were very experienced in winning several football tournaments.

The trip to Nottingham took about 3 and a half hours in a comfortable double-decker coach. With £15, we were given a return journey, a pack of light breakfast, a bottle of mineral water and a pack of snacks during our journey back home. Sitting among the postgraduates gave me and a few undergraduates the opportunity to grab more food prepared by their loved ones back home! Luckily I’m still single!

Cardiff A was placed in Group G, with University College Dublin (UCD) team as the seed of the group. They’ve won the Runner-up place in the recent Dublin Games, and did immensely well in several other games. Their teams consisted of ex-Kolej Mara Banting top players, some of whom I known well. Besides UCD, Sheffield SMSA, Aston and Strachlyde were altogether in the same group.

I’ll write down the results of all our games in the group stage.

Cardiff A 0-2   UCD

Cardiff A 1-1   Aston

Cardiff A 1-1   Strachlyde

Cardiff A 1-2   Sheffield SMSA

Though I conceded 4 goals, I should say that I’ve performed my best throughout the games. It may be because of a few mistakes by myself as well as the rest of the team. Needless to say, we were better off against the other 3 teams apart from UCD, but a few mistakes costed a lot. UCD qualified to the second round as they were top of the group, which later on proceeded to the finals, losing 0-1 to the top-seeded Birmingham.

All in all, I was satisfied with the teamwork displayed by Cardiff A team. We might not be able to proceed further than the group stage, but that definitely did not damper our hopes in winning other games this year. I am also satisfied with the excellent job done by the MSSCF committee in providing efficient and pleasant hospitality throughout the journey to Nottingham. Below is my email sent to Charlaine (President), Puteh (Vice President), Kabir (Treasurer) and Arief (Sports Secretary). I thank Allah for giving me a good body and a great health.

Dear Miss President, Mr Vice Pres, Mr Treasurer & Mr Sports Sec,
Assalamualaikum & Hi,

I would like to congratulate you and all of the MSSCF committee members for organising such a memorable trip to Nottingham. Here are my humble comments of the trip:

1. Charlaine addressed a wonderful speech which I believe everyone on board were pleased. It is unfortunate that she was unable to join the trip. Keywords like ‘Team spirit’ etc really meant a lot to the sportsmen who participated in their respective games.

2. Kabi & Arief did an excellent job in going around the bus checking attendance.

3. I thank you Charlaine for allowing me to give a short announcement on prayers (during the journey & in Nottingham) for the Muslims.

4. I initially thought that the food given (hotdog, muffins, choc bar, banana) was not enough, and did not match what we’ve had in our previous trips (yesterday was my 4th trip). We had a heavy meal to for breakfast. But later at the end of the day, I came to realise that the food given was just nice to keep us going for our morning games! Not too berat yet not too ringan. If i can remember correctly it was Huylinn & Kirsty who distributed snacks and air botol on our way back. Those snacks were excellent, at a time when some of us were looking for something to eat! 1st class MAS airlines service! well done.

5. It is worth notifying here that the notice on Nottingham Games is better promoted if it was distributed earlier.

Though we did not win any medal, the trip was indeed an enjoying one. I thank all of you once again. May God bless all of you.

Regards,
Azad

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