Dargan Cup 2011

Here’s the promised second part of last week’s big match round-up, as promised by the Guvnor. Thank you for your kind words about the black team of which I was part – we were perhaps too cautious in the first game and paid the price for conceding two late goals against the greens and the blues. Anyway, on to the main business…

The second Dargan Cup took place last Friday evening, with five teams of seven(ish) fighting for the Jules Rimet-style trophy that accompanied last year’s inaugural tournament to commemorate the fact that Mr. Sam Dargan had found a wife.

Three of those teams – the greens, the blues and the blacks – were made up of the various characters who typically play from 7.00 pm to 7.40 pm, with the other two – the whites and the red and white stripes – coming from the 8.00 pm to closing time crew (at that’s what time they usually appear in the pub).

Props to Ian Gough for organising the round robin tournament, which saw each team play one another once. With just seven minutes for each match, the scorelines looked understandably binary, with a proliferation of 1-0, 0-0 and 1-1 scorelines. As the games unfolded a clear pattern emerged, with Team 4, i.e. the whites, winning all but one of the round robin games (a 0-0 draw with the black team. Clearly, the yin and the yang balanced on this occasion). With ten points from their first four games the whites – I’ll capitalise them to make their achievements seem more impressive – The Whites made the final, where they awaited the winners of the semi final between the greens and the blues. The greens, many people’s tip before the start, including big names like Yevgeniy, Alex from Stoke and Big Dave, found themselves facing the prospect of penalties to make the final and seek vengeance from their earlier smiting by The Whites. Sadly, the wizard of the Potteries followed the path of so many legends of English football and failed from the penalty spot to send the Blues through, (as they made the final they too can earn Proper Noun status).

White versus Blue saw an end to the binary system as goals from the Theo Walcott lookalike and Gooner Kev saw the Whites take the trophy, meaning that for the second time in its two year history the Dargan Cup belonged to the 8.00 pm crew. Actually, it belongs to the Old Fountain’s Head, assuming possession is nine tenths of the law, but there you go.

It was sad to see intra-team bickering from the Blues as the final whistle approached, with Mick giving Sam some verbals, which was a bit off considering the reason we were all there. What can you say; it’s a passionate game.

For the record, the final table stood as follows:

1. First place: White Team, aka ‘Get Back & Defend’ (Team Four) 10 points; winners of the final
2. Runner-up: Blue Team, aka ‘Simon and the Cruyff turns’ (Team Two) Six points; losing finalists
3. Third place: Green Team, aka ‘Geoff's around the pitch wanderers’ Six points; losing semi-finalist
4. Fourth place: Black Team, aka ‘Aiton's High Kickers’; Four points
5. Fifth place: Red and white stripes, aka ‘Lags Eleven’ [they looked a bit rough]; Two points
   

Some members of Lags Eleven and other miscellaneous participants from other teams played on into the Friday night; I’d already got changed to get to the pub (the comments on the semi-final came via hearsay and post-match interviews). A cracking turn-out at the tournament for the inevitable post-mortems; many thanks to all those who made the effort, despite not playing regularly due to childcare commitments and injury.

And so on to 2012’s tournament… here’s to you, Mrs. Dargan.