The 2011 UKSEVENS National 7-a-side Championships saw 62 men’s and women’s teams descend once more on Newquay for the 4th consecutive year. The 2011 tournament attracted a quality field including the 2010 champions Acad Boys from London heading up the line up in the men’s field. The other challengers looked like coming from 2-time men’s champions the Rowdies as well as several other Championship finalists and semi-finalists  including Premier Sixes FC (Cornwall – 2010 finalists), Hungry Hippos (Staffordshire – 2010 semi-finalists), San Marino All Stars (Warrington – 2010 semi-finalists) and FUBAR (Loughborough – 2009 finalists).

The ladies section was just as strong with the Acad Ledges (London) coming back to defend the title they won in 2009 and 2010. The other challengers tipped for big things before the tournament started included Plymouth Argyle who had just won promotion to the Women’s Premier League Southern Division, Newquay AFC who were two-time finalists and the Dolly Mixtures (Hampshire) who had lost the 2009 final to the Acad Ledges.

Saturday Review
Men’s Section
Saturday’s action had seen all of the teams drawn into 6 groups of 6 teams and one group of 7 teams. All the teams played each other once with the top two qualifying for the National Championship, the 3rd and 4th place teams qualifying for the Supplementary Cup and the remaining teams going into the Kurt Taylor Memorial Cup.

Group A

The reigning champions Acad Boys qualified as group winners as expected. One of the surprise packages of the Saturday had been the performance of Dale Palmers All Stars (Devon - pictured right) who also qualified for the Championship by finishing second. The All Stars had been awful last year but looked like potential champions this year. Zeroes (Penzance) and Queens Park Brighton qualified for the Supplementary Cup with Brandon Sports (Bristol) and Gaddzy’s Gay Boys (Cardiff) going into the Memorial Cup.

Group B

The Chicago White Sox (Cornwall - pictured left) won the 7-team group B pipping South West Peninsula League team Foxhole to top spot. The Wolf Pack (Kent) did well finishing third while former Championship finalists FUBAR (Loughborough)were disappointed to finish 4th in the group. The bottom 3 all qualified for the Memorial Cup with Playerz United (Grampound) finishing 5th, Arqiva (Southampton) 6th and Barley Mow Wanderers (Wolverhampton) bringing up the rear in 7th.

Group C

The 7-a-side juggernaut that is the Rowdies (Newquay) looked like they meant business as they once more topped their group to qualify for the Championship as they searched for title #3. Little was known about St Lawrence FC (Kent) prior to the tournament but they put in an impressive display to join the Rowdies in the Championship by finishing second. The Kingham One Blacks (Oxford - pictured right) and Inner City Football Club ‘B’ (Leicester) occupied 3rd and 4th place to move through to the Supplementary Cup. Motherwell….No she’s poorly actually (Leeds) and Aber Cons (Bridgend) finished in the bottom two and thus moved through tom the Memorial Cup on the Sunday.

Group D

The two Warrington teams finished in the top two in Group D with the Shoe Army ‘Crabs’ (Pictured left) topping the group and 2010 Championship semi-finalists San Marino All Stars scraping qualification in second after pipping the Mangiana Monologues (London) who finished third after seeing their strong early challenge tail off.  The Galmington Dragons (Devon) had one of the finest kits of the tournament but could only muster 4th place to qualify for the Supplementary Cup. Nice Fridge Lokomotiv (Kent) and the veterans of Real Sociopaths (Exeter) brought up the tail end of the group.

Group E

2010 losing finalists Premier Sixes FC (Cornwall - pictured right) once more steam rolled their qualifying group as they finished top of the pile with Inner City Football Club ‘A’ (Leicester) joining them in the main Championship draw. Sed Army (Hove) tried valiantly but fell short finishing 3rd going into the Supplementary Cup draw with 4th place Steyning Town FC (Kent). Team Help (Southampton) and Manchester Valiant ‘B’ finished in the bottom two.

Group F

Group G was predicted to be the group of death, however, it was group F on reflection that turned out to be the hardest group with the unbelievably impressive Badonde Badgers (Chester - pictured left) topping the group ahead of Manchester Valiant ‘A’. Sex Dungeon Athletic (Colchester) the 2010 Championship quarter-finalists missed out on a place in the big cup finishing third and were joined in the Supplementary draw with the Twatley Boys (Dursley). The Smurfs (Newquay) once more failed to set the world alight in their 4th consecutive UK7 as they finished in the bottom two along with Goffs Oak Comrades (Bournemouth).

Group G

When the draw for the event had been made Group G was the group that stood out as the hardest. FCFC (Southampton) were tipped for great things and they didn’t disappoint topping the group with 2010 semi-finalists the Hungry Hippos (Staffordshire - pictured right) qualifying in second place. AC Wigston (Leicester) had promised much but fell just short of the Championship draw finishing third and going through to the Supplementary Cup with local team Gevo who had performed way beyond what had been predicted of them. 2009 Supplementary Cup winners Portslade Athletic (Hove) missed out on the chance to win the Supplementary Cup a second time after finishing 5th with the Shoe Army ‘Swamps’ finishing bottom of the pile.

Women’s Section

Group A

Little was known about Accrington and Rossendale College prior to the weekend but they impressed as they charged to the top of group A on the Saturday. They were to be joined in the Championship draw by last year’s Supplementary Cup winners the Villapool Sharks (Redditch) and last years’ finalists Newquay FC. Oldham Vixens (Pictured left), The Sharks (Aston Uni), Pete’s Angels (Northampton) and Merley Cobham all moved through to the Supplementary Cup draw.

Group B

The reigning champions Acad Ledges never looked in trouble as they qualified as group winners ahead of Bristol Union and Truro City who also joined them in the Championship draw. Redditch Growlers, Dorchester (Pictured right) and Charlton finished in the bottom 3 and thus moved through to the Supplementary draw.

Group C

	The big guns in Group C all qualified as expected with former finalists the Dolly Mixtures (Hampshire) claiming top spot ahead of Plymouth Argyle (who impressed without really getting into second gear) and the Villapool Crabs (Redditch - pictured left). Sparta (Nottingham), Newquay Celtic and Multiple Scoregasms (Ilminister) moved into the Supplementary Cup draw.

Sunday Review

Men’s Champions Cup
The format for the Sunday saw the men’s teams seeded on their results from the Saturday and redrawn into 2 groups of 5 and one group of four. The top two in the 4 team group qualified for the quarter-finals while the top 3 in the 5 team groups also qualified.

Group A
Last year’s champions Acad Boys were struggling with injuries and only just qualified in a very difficult group as they just scraped through ahead of St Lawrence FC on goals scored. The Chicago White Sox went through as group winners with last year’s semi-finalists San Marino finishing bottom of the group.

Group B
There was a shock in Group B as Inner City Football Club ’A’ emerged top of the pile ahead of the Rowdies who qualified in second place courtesy of a +1 better goal difference. The Shoe Army ‘Crabs’ who had defied all expectations by qualifying for the Championship event in the first place then went one better as they scraped third place ahead of last year’s semi-finalists Hungry Hippos and Manchester Valiant ‘A’.

Group C
Group C was without doubt the toughest of all the groups. Badonde Badgers continued their impressive form from the Saturday as they topped the group, pipping Foxhole to first place. Premier Sixes FC aspirations of going one better than their runners up place last season was still alive as they pipped the impressive FCFC on goal difference to the last qualification slot, with Dale Palmer All Stars holding up the group after struggling to replicate their glittering form from Saturday after a monster night of drinking.

The quarter-final draw was seeded and looked like this
Chicago White Sox vs Rowdies
Inner City FC ‘A’ vs Premier Sixes
Badonde Badgers vs Shoe Army Crabs
Acad Boys vs Foxhole

Despite winning both their Saturday and Sunday groups the White Sox were no match for the machine that is the Rowdies as they strolled to a 3-0 to book their place in the semi-finals.
Premier Sixes would have fancied their chances of beating Inner City after pipping them to the top of their group in Saturday qualifying but it wasn’t to be as last year’s finalists were eliminated in the quarters.
Badonde Badgers surely had the easiest draw against the over achieving Shoes. They also knew that they would avoid the Rowdies in the semis if they won, however, the years greatest underdog story wasn’t ready to finish as the Shoe’s managed to hold the Badgers before knocking them out on penalties for surely the upset of the tournament.
Last year’s winners the Acads were past being down to the bare bones as most of the side were now carrying injuries. Their match against a very organised and focused Foxhole proved to be one way traffic as the champions crashed out of the tournament 4-0 in the quarters.

Semi-Final draw
Rowdies vs Inner City
Foxhole vs Shoe Army Crabs

Inner City were buzzing with confidence but it wasn’t quite enough to see off the Rowdies who were now starting to looking untouchable. Rowdies won the semi to take their place in their third Championship final in 4 years.
Foxhole looked the major threat to the Rowdies as their side who play senior football in Cornwall had avoided drinking all weekend while their opponent’s the Shoes had been dicing with alcohol poisoning the entire weekend. The greatest hero story ever looked certain to be coming to an end. For all their possession and territory the Foxes were unable to break the Shoes 6-man defence down. Lee Vaughan the Shoe’s only outlet was playing like Lionel Messi on steroids as he led their non-existent strike force.  Once more penalties loomed. The Shoe’s Sunday stand in goalkeeper Ashraf Hasan had looked average at best in nets during the games but during the penalty shootouts he was like a ninja on speed as he threw himself the right way at everything. The underdogs won the shootout to book themselves a place in the UK7 Championship final.

The Final
The Rowdies vs Shoe Army Crabs

The final chapter of the greatest underdog story ever told was about to be written. The Rowdies a team who had never lost a game in normal time (They lost in the quarters on penalties in 2010) at UK7, filled with players from the Peninsula League runners up and two random professionals were up against the all singing, all dancing Shoe Army; a bunch of Chester Uni (Warrington Campus) students who drank hard and when they tried on the pitch they were almost average. Surely there couldn’t be another twist to this tale. Both sides walked out at the start of the game through smoke flares. Actually the Rowdies walked out while the Shoe’s buoyed along by their sister team the Shoe Army Swamps and various water boys on the side lines randomly bounced out like Kangaroos. To the match. The Rowdies like an efficient German team dominated proceedings with the Shoe’s surrendering all territory in favour of a 6-man defence relying solely on long range efforts. Lee Vaughan was inches from opening the scoring for the underdogs but his effort sailed agonisingly wide of the Rowdies goal. The Shoe fan base were in full effect on the side line banging out one Shoe song after another; however they were soon silenced when former UK7 player of the tournament Phil Lowry fired home the opener for the Rowdies. One of the most unique celebrations then followed as all 7 Rowdies simultaneously planked on the pitch. The Shoe’s couldn’t muster a fight back and the game was soon over as the Rowdies bagged an inevitable second. The final whistle sounded, the Rowdies had picked up their third title in 4 years and the Shoe’s had written the greatest underdog story seen at UK7. The Rowdies Josh Harris picked up the tournament top scorer award and the Shoe’s penalty saving hero Ashraf Hasan (Pictured right) picked up the player of the tournament award ahead of Runner up Lee Vaughan (Shoes) and 3rd placed Phil Lowry (Rowdies).

Men’s Supplementary Cup
The Supplementary Cup followed a similar format to the Championship with all the sides divided into 3 qualifying groups before the quarter-finals.
There were a few shocks as AC Wigston and Kingham One Blacks failed to reach the quarter-finals. There were still surprises in the quarters as Gevo who have had no pedigree in previos UK7 appearences knocked out 2010 Championship quarter finalist Sex Dungeon Athletic, The Twatley Boys eliminated former championship finalists FUBAR on penalties and Queens Park Brighton saw off the Galmington Dragons 3-1.
The semi-finals saw Inner City ‘B’ go one better than their ‘A’ team as they went on to eliminate the Twatley boys whose drinking exploits over the weekend appeared to finally catch up with them. Gevo then caused another shock in the other semi-final as they despatched QPB to move into the final. The final saw Inner City take the title after winning a marathon penalty shootout thus ending Gevo’s golden run on the Sunday.



Men’s Memorial Cup

The Kurt Taylor Memorial Cup for all the 5th and 6th place finishers from the Saturday saw all the teams redrawn into 3 groups of 5 teams with the top two and two best third placed teams going through to the quarter-finals. There were several absentees on the Sunday as the teams who qualified for the Memorial Cup were definitely better at drinking than football. The Shoe Army Swamps who had been pretty awful on the Saturday had somehow come up with a winning formula during their Saturday night drinking antics, as they steamrolled their way through qualifying and the knockout stages to meet a Motherwell….no she’s poorly actually team who looked far too good to have qualified for the bottom competition. Despite taking an early lead the Swamps capitulated to a 4-1 defeat to the men from Leeds who had saved their best football for the business end of the tournament.

Women’s Champions Cup
The Women’s top teams from Saturday had been redrawn into a group of four and a group of five with the top two from each group going through to the Championship semi-finals. The Acad ledges and Villapool Sharks qualified from group A as Truro City (2010 Championship semi-finalists) and Villapool Crabs were eliminated. Group B was the Sunday group of death as the Dolly Mixtures and Newquay FC qualified meaning that the Accrington and Rossendale team that had looked so impressive on the Saturday were eliminated along with Bristol Union and Plymouth Argyle who had looked capable of beating anyone when they played seriously.

The semi-finals saw a repeat of the 2009 final as the Acad Ledges once more beat the Dolly Mixtures to book their place in yet another final.
Last year’s Supplementary winners the Villapool Sharks defeated Newquay FC to prevent a repeat of the 2010 Acad – Newquay Championship final.

The Final
Acad Ledges vs Villapool Sharks

The final was very evenly matched with both sides creating but failing to convert their chances. Just as it looked as if the game was heading towards a first ever Championship Final penalty shootout the Acad’s managed to find a winner with just 20 seconds of the game remaining to collect their third consecutive UK7’s Championship. Becky Narramore of Dorchester Town finished as the tournament’s top scorer while Stevie Lamb of the Acad Ledges won the women’s player of the tournament for a second time (the first was in 2009), beating Tash Knapman of Plymouth Argyle and Natalie Rhodes of Villapool Sharks.

Women’s Supplementary Cup
If the Shoes had performed miracles in the men’s section then it was the Multiple Scoregasms that were performing miracles in the ladies event. Utterly useless on the Saturday somehow they set about magically qualifying from their group on the Sunday before knocking Dorchester Town out in the semi-finals to book a place in the final, were they would meet the Sharks who had eliminated the Oldham Vixens on penalties in the other semi-final. Again much like the heroic Shoe story, there wasn’t to be a fairy tale ending as the Sharks claimed a 2-0 win to collect the Supplementary Cup.