Banbury Decoma Sybex charity cup tournament 2004

Banbury Decoma Sybex charity cup tournament.

20th November 2004

Oxford Shamal become the first Banbury Decoma Sybex cup champions.

It was a cold and frosty morning the same as any other normal November day. However, by the early hours of 7.20 a.m. the day was already starting to feel different. For starters both Michael & Martin Coombs were up and ready before their usual midday wake-up routine on a Saturday morning?!

By 8.30 the senior team (plus our guest, Ben moody and mascot Zak) were ready and kited, as we all stood posing for our tournament team picture. Rumours were starting to fly around that Oxford were the team to fear and odds had already been placed that we would reach the finals? This may have been down to the over-confident team write up produced for the program, but it felt good none the less.

Our fist group game saw us fight the hosts, Banbury to a 3-1 victory. As the game started, things didn’t look too promising, but by the time we adjusted to the size of the hall, been slightly small than Farnborough, we soon took the lead in the 2^nd period.

The second game against Nottingham was a much surprised and awarding win. We controlled the game throughout both periods with a final score of 7-1. This victory was all we needed to guarantee a place in the semi finals, even with one group match left to play.

Our final group match was against the Kinver Devils from south Staffordshire. As a traditional puck team, we already had the upper hand in this ball tournament. The 5-0 win gave Tom his first senior shutout and placed us as the group winners.

It was now time for a well-earned lunch break and to prepare for our semi finals match against none other than local rivals, Gosford!

It looked to be a match to remember. Out of retirement, they had recruited both Kirt and Jacko (the chance to check a copper was just too good to miss!). What looked to be a violent game turned out to be one of the best games the senior team have every played. Every single player was on true form, and I am sure Aldie along with the whole club would have been proud of our performance. The final score of 10-1 to Oxford saw us into the finals.

After a long and cold wait, the game finally started. Oxford Vs Milton Keynes, our first tournament final. The first period started out in our favour, however, by the second period MK started to put the pressure on. Within the last minute we were only up by one goal, but managed to hold onto the lead to win the game 5-4 and become the first Banbury Decoma Sybex cup champions.

Half an hour later we were showered and relaxing in the pub awaiting the presentations. The trophy, one of the largest the seniors have ever won, was proudly collected by captain Michael Coombs, and to finish off the teams success of the day, Easy was awarded dream team.

Joe Hodgkins

Senior team manager