The second ever Mariners Trust FIFA night occurred at Blundell Park earlier this week with funds raised for Youth Development.
On a ridiculously windy Wednesday evening, FIFA night#2 had a Premiership/Championship/Scottish theme, with the players selecting at random before the start. Many of the Town fans who played last team returned including Ryan Barber, Danny Charlton, Curtis Shorter and Billy Clark, with a selection of new names who had pre-registered via twitter or email (Dan Lewis, Rob Hargreaves, Zak Makey to name a few) and some who came along on the night and were last minute additions (Josh, Josh, Nathan, Tim, Charmaine) as places became available. Illness prevented reigning champion Andy Cook from defending his title, and the weather led to a few other non-attendees.
The football club was represented by defender Shaun Pearson, keen to improve on his first round exit last time, and club employee Jack Johnson. The Trust's representative was TGTGD blogger Paul Savage, and many of those who took part last time returned, including the runner up Jack Blyth hoping to take the title this time around. (Shaun's random selection was Tottenham, Jack J played as Liverpool, Paul was Brighton.)
Here are the results! (* = winner decided on shots on target, or failing that most corners obtained)
First Round;
Swansea 0 - 0 Wigan * Celtic 1-2 Arsenal
Fulham 2-0 Burnley QPR 3-0 Bolton
Norwich 2-0 West Brom *Liverpool 1-1 Reading
Huddersfield 4-1 Hull Leicester 0-4 Aston Villa
Cardiff 0-3 Southampton West Ham 2-4 Manchester Utd
Derby County 2-0 Crystal Palace Stoke City 3-0 Brighton
Tottenham 1-0 Sunderland Chelsea 0-7 Watford
Newcastle 1-2 Manchester City Nottingham Forest 1-0 Everton
Moment of the Round; Shaun Pearson scores his first FIFA goal and progresses to Round Two!
Tie of the Round; Six goal thriller between Man Utd and West Ham
Disappointment of Round; The Cole brothers meet in the Chelsea; Watford tie, but Hayden puts seven past his brother Finley - no mercy shown!
Trivia; Danny Cant's Wigan were they only team to progress without scoring in this round.
Second Round ;
Wigan 0-1 Arsenal *Fulham 0-0 QPR
Norwich 1-1 Liverpool* Huddersfield 0-2 Aston Villa
*Southampton 2-2 Manchester Utd Derby County 2-0 Stoke City
Tottenham 1-3 Watford Manchester City * 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Moment of the Round; Dale the GTFC cameraman appears to film things and volunteers Dan of the Trust to commentate ;-)
Tie of Round; Spurs take the lead, but it goes to Shaun Pearson's head as Hayden bangs in three goals to knock him out
Disappointment of Round; not many goals in this round, particularly in the Shorter;Charlton rematch; apparently they met in the first tournament too. They hyped it up; it ended goalless. :-(
Trivia; Josh Mills as Huddersfield goes out despite a 4-3 aggregate score over 2 games
Quarter Finals
Ryan Barber's Arsenal 3-1 Danny Charlton's Fulham
Jack Johnson's Liverpool 3-0 Nathan Bride's Aston Villa
Joe Waters's Southampton * 1-1 Zak Makey' s Derby County
Hayden Cole's Watford* 1-1 Tim Scott's Manchester City
Jack finally wins a game to get to the semis!
Two youngest remaining players get through in close draws.
Semi Finals
Arsenal 1-3 Liverpool
Southampton 2-0 Watford
The Arsenal v Liverpool tie was oddly reminiscent of the recent Premiership match, although Ryan's Arsenal better than Arsene's!
In the first two games where penalties could be an option, the draws finally stop.
THE FINAL!
Jack Johnson (Liverpool) 1 Joe Waters (Southampton) 3
So the overall winner; Joe Waters, who wins some free GTFC tickets, and a GTFC away top.
(Perhaps we need to arrange a Waters vs Cook game to decide which is the ULTIMATE FIFA champ?!)
Thanks for everyone who took part, we'll update you on further FIFA night plans soon. Special thanks to Sharon, Paul, Jack and David who helped this event take place.
To all who attended who are not yet Trust members, please join up as soon as possible to increase the chances of the event happening again and to get priority for these events too.
[PIC BELOW: runner up Jack congratulates WINNER Joe on becoming the 2nd FIFA champion.]