Group
C began with NHBC
taking on Premier Medical.
NHBC had qualified for the Prague Trophy courtesy
of winning the St James Urban Living Tournament
in the UK. So, whilst debutants to European
competition we had some idea of their quality.
Premier Medical were also making their debut
and were an unknown quantity. It would be interesting
to see how the two teams would fare. What ensued
was a great game to get Group C underway. The
two sides shared the spoils in a six goal thriller
with Amarjit Nadal scoring a brace either side
of a Harinder Sandhu strike for NHBC. Similarly,
for Premier Medical Jason Powell scored a brace
either side of a goal from Wells Powell. A point
each ensuring both teams were off the mark in
Group C.
Next
up was West Germany
and Kehar Club.
The burning question in this group was which
Kehar Club would turn up? This tournament marked
their third appearance and their two previous
appearances hadproduced two wildly differing
results. In the 2007, Kehar Club became the
Prague Masters champions but 12 months on they
found themselves bottom of their group with
just one point in the 2008 Prague Masters. The
West Germany team came from the same stable
as East Germany and were expected to also provide
a strong challenge. As it turned out, it was
an in form Kehar Club that turned up to compete
a 5-1 victory over a slow-starting West Germany
(maybe due to the previous nights exploits!).
Jan Sekerka claimed the first hat-trick of the
day with further goals from Jan Cihal and Lukas
Ostry.
The
final team to get underway was DHL
Prague Red who took on NHBC.
Now for all you budding stattos out there we
have a nugget for you. Our games in Prague usually
guarantee goals and in fact after a massive
108 games in Prague we had never had a 0-0 draw.
That run was to come to an end in this fixture
though as DHL Prague Red claimed a point from
their opening game and NHBC were proving draw
specialists with their second draw in as many
games. Congratulations to the two defences and
two goalkeepers.
Premier
Medical were looking to build upon their
opening draw whilst West
Germany were looking to bounce back from
their defeat at the hands of Kehar Club. A closely
contested fixture saw Harry Brunjes Junior (aka
The Poet) break the deadlock to put Premier
Medical ahead. A second goal for Wells Powell
(aka Wazza) sealed the game though as Premier
Medical won 2-0. Work to do for West Germany
in their final two games.
Game
5 of Group C saw an all-Czech tie between DHL
Prague Red and Kehar
Club. These two sides met in the opening
game of Group A in the 2008 Prague Masters.
On that occasion DHL Prague edged out their
local rivals 4-3. The 2008 Prague Trophy saw
revenge for Kehar Club as they turned defeat
to victory in another tight game, winning by
a margin of 3-2. The highlight of the game a
second successive hat-trick for Jan Sekerka
who, even at this early stage, was emerging
as a favourite for the top goalscorer award.
Cillian O'Donoghue and Rupert Baltrock scoring
the goals for DHL Prague Red.
Draw
specialists NHBC
then met West Germany
who were desperate for a win to turn around
their fortunes. It looked as if this game could
have ended up another draw but one goal in seven
would seperate these two sides. The deciding
goal falling in favour of West Germany as they
won 4-3. Pete Snelling (2), Jules Leyland and
Ted Aplin their heroes. Amarjit Nadal (2) and
Harinder Sandhu the goalscorers again for NHBC.
Amarjit Nadal taking his own personal tally
to four for the tournament. The result saw West
Germany jump from 5th to 3rd and with one game
to go the competiton was alive for them.
The
next game saw the top two, Kehar
Club and Premier
Medical come face-to-face. The two teams
had unbeaten records to protect but rather than
settle for a draw both teams sought a victory
that would guarantee their progress through
to the Cup. It was Kehar Club who claimed victory
and take a strangle-hold on this group. They
jumped to 9 points and opened up a 5 point lead
at the top of the table. Maybe the most impressive
thing about this win is that they managed it
without goals from Jan Sekerka. Their goals
this time coming from Pavel Trminket and Josef
Rakosnik. Harry Brunjes Jnr with the goal for
Premeir Medical which proved not to be enough
on this occasion.
A
resurgent West Germany
took on DHL Prague Red
who were looking to respond to their defeat
to Kehar Club. The game finished 2-2 which neither
helped nor hindered either team. Gareth Evers
and David Janecek goals for DHL Prague Red were
cancelled out by Pete Snelling and Ted Aplin
goals for West Germany. The result meant West
Germany finished on four points and had to wait
to see if that would be good enough for the
Cup. They would have to rely on NHBC failing
to beat Kehar Club and DHL Prague Red failing
to beat Premier Medical in the final two group
games to qualify for the Cup. DHL Prague, on
two points, had their fate in their own hands
to some degree but it would not be easy against
2nd placed Premier Medical.
First
up though was group leaders Kehar
Club against NHBC.
The form book suggested a Czech win and the
form book was proved right despite a third brace
of the tournament for NHBC's Amarjit Nadal.
Kehar Club went on to make it 4 wins from 4
as they rattled in 5 goals from Petr Kaminski,
Jan Sekerka, Lukas Ostry, Martin Sekerka and
an own goal.
Premier
Medical versus DHL
Prague Red was the 10th and final game
of Group C. Premier Medical were playing for
pride with Cup qualification assured already.
There was much more riding on this for DHL Prague
Red though where only a win was good enough.
A win would see them jump up to second such
was the tightness in this group. A win was beyond
them though and although Daniel Finlay-Notman
found the back of the net the strike was overshadowed
by goals from Wells Powell, Harry Brunjes Jnr
and James Emery. The 3-1 win securing second
place for Premier Medical whilst DHL Prague
Red edged ahead of NHBC on goal difference to
finish 4th and earn a bye to the Plate Semi-Finals.