Summer Cup 2007

Taipei Summer Cup 2007 July 28-29, 2007	link to album >>>
Kaohsiung 100 Pacers are the Plate winners of the Summer Cup 2007. This Summer Cup was the biggest expat football tournament organized in Taiwan so far. 20 teams participated. New formula had been presented. In the first stage footballers competed in 5 groups of 4 teams. Later on 10 top teams were divided into 2 groups of 5 and were playing in the Cup competition. Bottom 10 teams played in the Plate competition. Tubbies Juice won the Cup beating Compass 1:0 in the extra time of the Cup final game.
Day 1 Group E (Pacers, Compass, Carnegies, Shane) Vs. Taichung Compass 0:2 Team: Hudson – McQuoid-Mason, Shard, Robertson, Storey – Jones, Hooton, O’Brien, Cantwell – Dorward, Christie. Subs: Smith, Doherty. The game started with the ball bouncing against the post of Hudson’s goal. Three minutes later new Pacer Christie produced an effort of the volley, which seen the ball going over the bar. In next ten minutes Compass pressed the Pacers with series of counterattacks. They have scored in the twelfth minute. Lucky volley found its way to the net. Few moments later Hudson stopped a dangerous lob and Doherty was very close to make a shot. In the twenty first minute Compass extended their lead to 2:0. After the shot from the right side the ball hit the post and found an unmarked player in front of the empty goal. In the last minute of the play Doherty hit the bar. Compass also scored their third but the ref decided to disallow it because of the handball. Compass had shown their superiority over the Pacers and controlled the whole game.
Vs. Taipei Carnegies 1:2 Team: Hudson – McQuoid-Mason, Shard, Robertson, Storey – Jones, Hooton, O’Brien, Doherty – Dorward, Christie. Subs: Smith, Cantwell. Scorer: Jones The second game was much more competitive and open in contrast to the first one. The first good situation to score came after two minutes. Hooton was executing the free-kick and Doherty tried to shot with the bicycle kick. In the fourth minute Hudson saved a dangerous effort produced by the Carnegies. A minute later the Pacers scored their first goal of the tournament. Again Hooton executed the free-kick. Jones found himself in the penalty box and forced the ball to the net from the close range. In the eighth minute Shard performed the clean sliding tackle in the Pacers box. Ref made a mistake and the Carnegies equalized from the penalty. They kept attacking and threaten Hudson twice after the quarter of play. Dorward had a good chance to shot in the nineteenth minute but his attempt was blocked. In the twenty second minute Jones was brought down in the box. Cantwell executed the penalty, which was of a poor result. The goalkeeper saved it. The Pacers intimidated by that misfortune lost the crucial goal in the final minute. The Carnegies had a throw in. A header found its way on the Hudson’s left bottom corner. That unfortunate and painful defeat meant the Pacers will play in the Plate competition.
Vs. Shane 1:0 Team: Hudson – McQuoid-Mason, Shard, Robertson, Storey – Jones, Hooton, O’Brien, Cantwell – Dorward, Christie. Subs: Smith, Doherty. Scorer: Jones Without chances to qualify to the Cup competition the Pacers found their first win and restored their morale for the reminder of the tournament. Shane started the game well. McQuoid-Mason was clearing the ball from the goal line in the second minute. In the ninth Shard stop the vital break. In the tenth minute a dog appeared on the field but did not score goal. O’Brien was close to do that in thirteenth minute when his shot just missed the post. Also Dorward and Doherty did not produce anything from theirs shots. In the eighteenth minute Dorward again won the ball after outrunning the defender who in his frustration stopped the Englishman by pulling his shirt. Ref did not bother to make a decision and the play went on. Moments before the time Jones receives the ball from Dorward. First falls down but gets up and finds the way to make it 1:0. The Pacers finish their group with three points.
Group I of the plate competition (Pacers, JFC, Scunners, Hualien, Da’an) Vs. JFC 2:0 Officially the result was decided by the walkover but the rumors say it was Doherty who scored a double. Details unknown.
Day 2 Vs. Scunners 1:0 Team: Hudson –– Storey, Shard, Robertson, McQuoid-Mason – Jones, Hooton, Nestor, Cantwell – Dorward, Christie. Subs: Doherty, O’Brien, Smith, Gourley. Scorer: Nestor The game did not start well. Shaky defense had shown some weakness but fortunately did not end up allowing a goal. In the seventh minutes Nestor won the free-kick but there was no good attempt on goal from it. Two minutes later Jones had a chance but his flat shot missed the post. Robertson was keeping the back when Scunners were attacking once a while. In the eleventh minute Nestor got the ball and faked the defender. Fired a shot from more or less ten meters and made it 1:0. After that the game did not offer many convenient situations for a goal. Only at the end of the play the Pacers were close to score again. O’Brien set Nestor but he miss-hit the ball. The win gave the Pacers an optimistic boost for the next game.
Vs. Hualien 6:0 Team: Hudson –– Smith, Shard, Robertson, Storey – Jones, O’Brien, Nestor, Doherty – Dorward, Christie. Subs: Cantwell, McQuoid-Mason, Hooton, Gourley, Baldy. Scorers: O’Brien 2, Doherty 2, Jones, own goal. The Pacers did not waste any time against Hualien. O’Brien scored his first after three minutes. His soft precise shot from the right edge of the box found the way to the net. In the sixth minute the Pacers counterattack. Nestor keeps the ball and sets Doherty well. There could be no mistake. 2:0. Moments later Hualien shoots itself in the foot with a curious own goal. The Pacers continue their charges. In the thirteenth minute O’Brien makes a run to the left side of the box. Attempts to shot but is denied. Doherty gets the rebound and blasts the ball under the bar. Just seconds later Doherty is close to get his hat-trick but fails with the header. Three minutes before time Jones fires the half-volley, which surprises the keeper. The ball goes into the goal’s corner and lands at the back of the net. In the final minute O’Brien makes a run. Carries the ball into the box patiently dribbles past all the defenders and sets the final score as 6:0. That splendid result made the Pacers realize the Plate final is very attainable.
Vs. Da’an 0:2 Team: Hudson –– McQuoid-Mason, Shard, Robertson, Storey – Jones, Hooton, O’Brien, Cantwell – Nestor, Dorward. Subs: Smith, Doherty, Gourley, Christie, Baldy. Da’an opens the game with aggressive football that wins them two corners in the first three minutes. Hudson acts brave when stopping the charging strikers. Again in the ninth minute he challenges the forward and refuses to allow the goal. Moments later Storey leaves the lonely ball to Hudson. Da’an takes an advantage of the Pacers confusion. Shard chases the player but he manages to score. In following minutes Da’an creates more pressure. The Pacers lose their shape. In the sixteenth minutes Da’an plays a quality through-ball. Hudson is off his line, which leaves Robertson in the one-on-one situation with the striker. That makes it 2:0 to Da’an. In last couple of minutes the Pacers try to produce a scoring chance. Though they are close there is no real attempt on goal. With nine points from four games the Pacers finish first in their group thanks to the good scoring statistics. The other group was won by Shane.
The Plate Final Vs. Shane 1:1, 6:5 on penalties Team: Hudson –– McQuoid-Mason, Shard, Robertson, Storey – Jones, Nestor, O’Brien, Doherty – Christie, Dorward. Subs: Smith, Cantwell, Hooton, Gourley, Baldy. Scorer: Dorward The plate final sets off with energy. Christie steals the ball and passes to Dorward whose shot is blocked. Moments later Christie leaves the field with an ankle injury, which proves his commitment to the game. In the ninth minute Shard and McQuoid-Mason prevent the goal. Two minutes later Dorward opens the scoring sheet with a great shot from the sharp angle that finally hits the bar and comes out. The ref’s decision is a goal. The game turns to be a very competitive and hard play. Attack follows an attack. Both teams have got some situations to score. In the dying minutes Shane manages to tie the game thanks to the Pacers scruffy defending. Game ends as 1:1. Shane starts the penalty shoot-out. First ten players score. For Pacers respectively: Jones, Nestor, Cantwell, Shard and Hooton. In the sixth round Hudson saves Shane’s attempt. Andy “the man with the golden leg” Gourley puts the ball into the back of the net in nonchalant fashion. It finishes the contest with the 6:5 result to the Pacers, which is the Plate winner.