As many readers of this blog will know, the Max O'Connell Cup took place on Saturday 8th August 2006. The event, played in honour of Max’s footballing memory, was a great success with five different teams from the Queen’s Park area taking part.
The worthy winners of the tournament were the All-Stars, who beat the Bearded Monkeys 2-1 in the final. The tournament was fiercely contested, with the football on show being of a particularly high standard. For those of you who are interested, info relating to the tournament, including photos and match information, can be found at the end of this post.
Max loved playing football while other people loved playing football with him. He was well-respected as a footballer of genuine skill and was looked up to by both his team mates and those who played against him. He was of course a ‘Legend’ and will never be replaced or forgotten. It is testament to his personality both as a footballer and as a friend that so many people turned up to honour such an important part of his life.
Thank you to everyone who turned up and participated in the event. A special thank you to Victoria and Seamus, who generously provided the champagne for the Player of Tournament Award, and to Louis who managed to get everyone to turn up.
Please look out for postings next year for news about the Max O’Connell Cup 2007.
Josh
The Winners
The Teams…
Queen’s Park
The Bearded Monkeys
The All Stars
Total Football
North Pad Old Boys
Results…
Game 1
| Total Football - 0 | All Stars - 3 |
| | Ryan (2), David |
Game 2
| North Pad Old Boys - 1 | The Bearded Monkeys - 2 |
| Chris | Tom (2) |
Game 3
| Total Football - 2 | Queen’s Park - 1 |
| Alex, OG | Dom |
Game 4
| All Stars - 2 | The Bearded Monkeys - 1 |
| Ryan (2) | Mikey |
Game 5
| North Pad Old Boys - 1 | Queen’s Park - 0 |
| Nicky | |
Game 6
| Total Football - 1 | The Bearded Monkeys - 2 |
| Scott | Tom (2) |
Game 7
| North Pad Old Boys - 0 | The All Stars - 3 |
| | George, Darren, Charlie |
Game 8
| The Bearded Monkeys - 2 | Queen’s Park - 2 |
| Mikey (2) | Dash, Joe |
Game 9
| Total Football - 6 | North Pad Old Boys - 2 |
| Scott (3), Alex (2), Sam | Jack (2) |
Game 10
| Queen’s Park - 2 | The All Stars - 0 |
| Louis, Theo | |
| Queen’s Park - 2 | Total Football - 2 |
| Louis, Theo | Scott, Alex |
Queen’s Park won on penalties
Final
| The Bearded Monkeys - 1 | All Stars - 2 |
| Mikey | Charlie, George |
Tournament Summaries…(please add your own)
Every team performed to a high level yet the results don’t reflect the true guile and quality of the performances of the real champions that day. Please take a moment and think back to the masterful display of the peoples favourite. QP, notoriously slow starters, were on the verge of self-destruct, heads down, confidence at an all time low then forward stepped the talisman, Mr Watson, to take the reins and awake the sleeping giant!?
Callum
Hero is a word that is banded about too often. With the wind in their hair, the QP heroes took to the field with an obvious player down. The oooh’s and aaah’s could be heard from the crowd, as QP dazzled with purpose, vigour, and flare, like the noise at a fire works display. After beating the overall winners and drawing with bitter rivals Bearded Monkeys, QP showed who were the real winners.
Owen
Player of the Tournament…
Tom Quested
Top Scorers…
| Player | Team | Goals |
| Scott | Total Football | 5 |
| Ryan | The All Stars | 4 |
| Tom | The Bearded Monkeys | 4 |
| Mikey | The Bearded Monkeys | 4 |
All jokes and biased opinions aside, thanks to everyone for turning up and making it a memorable day. This tournament is something Max always wanted to organise but unfortunately it never quite came about, although he did come close a couple of years ago. He and Josh spent weeks and countless phone calls putting together a small tournament in Hampstead Heath but the night before continued a little longer than planned with most of our team ending up at the bottom of Max’s garden at around eight in the morning discussing tactics and drinking Pimms, prepared by Max and with all the trimmings of course, which was followed by a bottle of red wine. I remember seeing Seamus and Victoria coming down for breakfast just as we were leaving. After a bit of a nap we made our way down there, a few hours late and not quite at full fitness, but by the time we actually found it, about another hour or so later, everyone else had pretty much had enough. We did manage a game, which I think was one of the rare occasions the older lot got the better of us. So for the tournament to come together like this was a truly apt tribute to his memory and something I hope will continue and maybe even grow in the next few years. Hope to see all you
Louis
