Firestone successfully defend rural tourney

FIRESTONE, a rural football side, won the Old Mutual OSCA May Cup by beating rivals Kick & Run 2-0 in the final held at Otjohorongo towards the end of last month.

Firestone, who were the defending champions of the competition, downed TTO Eleven in their semi-final match to go through to the final.TTO Eleven is managed by former Liverpool and national team footballer Donald Tjikune. Kick & Run was regarded as the favourite to take the tournament as they are believed to have some of the best players in the area, but their hopes were dashed by Firestone who looked sharper on the day.Silver Stars, Kamatuka Eleven Stars, Hotspurs and Blackpool were all knocked out in the early stages.Silver Stars is a new team with a lot of younger players, while Hotspurs, which were considered the favourites, managed to beat Blackpool (2-0) in their first match, but were knocked out by Kick & Run (2-0).Kamatuka Eleven Stars were dumped out of the tournament at the first hurdle when they went down 4-3 on penalties after a one-all draw against Kick & Run.Another team which failed to go the distance was Real Boys, who had to pack and go after 3-2 win on penalties by TTO Eleven after a goalless draw.In the netball category, Silver Stars Ladies were crowned as the 2005 champions of the annual tournament when they narrowly defeated Firestone Ladies 33-32 in a fiercely contested final.In their run to the final, Silver Stars first beat Golden City 18-12 to book themselves a place in the final against Firestone Ladies, whom they also beat along the way to the final.For the footballers, Firestone in their first match beat Dynamos 2-0 to go through to the semi-finals.The tournament has been sponsored by Old Mutual for over three years now and is meant to stimulate sportsmanship among football and netball teams based in the Omaruru constituency, and especially in the Otjohorongo reserve.Kick & Run was regarded as the favourite to take the tournament as they are believed to have some of the best players in the area, but their hopes were dashed by Firestone who looked sharper on the day.Silver Stars, Kamatuka Eleven Stars, Hotspurs and Blackpool were all knocked out in the early stages.Silver Stars is a new team with a lot of younger players, while Hotspurs, which were considered the favourites, managed to beat Blackpool (2-0) in their first match, but were knocked out by Kick & Run (2-0).Kamatuka Eleven Stars were dumped out of the tournament at the first hurdle when they went down 4-3 on penalties after a one-all draw against Kick & Run.Another team which failed to go the distance was Real Boys, who had to pack and go after 3-2 win on penalties by TTO Eleven after a goalless draw.In the netball category, Silver Stars Ladies were crowned as the 2005 champions of the annual tournament when they narrowly defeated Firestone Ladies 33-32 in a fiercely contested final.In their run to the final, Silver Stars first beat Golden City 18-12 to book themselves a place in the final against Firestone Ladies, whom they also beat along the way to the final.For the footballers, Firestone in their first match beat Dynamos 2-0 to go through to the semi-finals.The tournament has been sponsored by Old Mutual for over three years now and is meant to stimulate sportsmanship among football and netball teams based in the Omaruru constituency, and especially in the Otjohorongo reserve.