DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s football at DSC all set for grand finale

Sport360 staff 13:16 20/05/2015
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  • The Dane Landers (pictured) face Cobra Kai in the semis.

    The DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s football tournament is all set for a grand finale next week at the Sports Village at Dubai Sports City with four sides still in with a chance of securing the ultimate prize.

    Cobra Kai will play former champion side The Dane Landers while Taaj will take on DMI in the semi-finals, with those four line-ups each just two games away from lifting the trophy.

    And in the last four of the Plate competition another former champion side, Victory Heights FC, drawn from the golf course community alongside The Els Club at Dubai Sports City, will face the Gravitons and PIC FC must overcome Leo Pharma.

    The matches will represent the climax of the latest edition of the tournament, now sponsored by Etihad Airways, that began with 24 teams playing under the floodlights of the Dubai Sports City Football Academy.

    The sides were divided into two groups with the top six from each after the first stage going into the Cup competition while those that remained contested for the Plate.

    The Dane Landers qualified for the semi-finals of the Cup competition as the runner up in Group A in the second stage, sealing that spot by just one goal from Emirates.

    Both sides finished with identical records – played five, won three, drawn one and lost one – but in the final analysis it was The Dane Landers’ 6-1 success against Kelloggs that just gave it the edge in terms of goal difference against Emirates.

    Cobra Kai topped Group A, two points ahead of The Dane Landers, and sealed its position thanks to a 3-2 win against Kelloggs and a 4-1 success versus Zagros.

    In Group B Taaj qualified as the only side in the Cup competition to remain unbeaten through the second stage, with a record of four wins and a draw from five matches.

    Taaj cemented its place at the top of that Group B thanks to wins against the Sweaty Cockneys (2-0), the Snailmen (2-0) and the UAE Boys (1-0) and it finished three points ahead of DMI (played five, 10 points).

    Lukoil was the unlucky side in that Group, just one point back from DMI. DMI’s final two matches, with successes against the Snailmen (4-0) and the UAE Boys (3-0) contrasted with Lukoil’s run to the line, with a 1-1 draw with the UAE Boys costing it that semi-final spot.

    In the Plate competition, Victory Heights FC, so often a side that has produced great form at the back-end of past tournaments, did it again by qualifying for the semi-finals with a record of five wins from as many matches.

    It achieved that feat by scoring 18 goals and not conceding any and it will present a formidable obstacle to the Gravitons in one of those Plate semi-finals.

    The winner of that match will face either Leo Pharma or PIC FC in the Plate final.

    The seven-a-side tournament takes place on the grass and artificial outdoor pitches of Dubai Sports City’s Sports Village.

    That is within sight of the office of former Real Madrid and Spain legend Michel Salgado, now the Director of Spanish Soccer Schools (SSS), the Dubai Sports City coaching programme for five to 16 year-olds that already has well over 1000 children enrolled in just its second year of operation.

    SSS won the Gold award for Best Youth Development Programme at the Sports Industry Awards in Dubai in March.

    Reflecting on the latest action and looking ahead to the finals, Dubai Sports City General Manager – Sports Business Maqbul Dudhia said: “We are all set for a great conclusion to this DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s.

    “As ever, it has been a terrific tournament so far and with the four best sides through to the semi-finals of the Cup competition we have every reason to expect some really high-quality action during the closing stages.

    “It is all or nothing now for all the sides that remain in both the Cup and Plate events and the teams really have relished the conditions they have played in, something that has made the tournament even better.

    “Dubai Sports City’s world-class facilities at our Sports Village have been used extensively by English Premier League clubs West Ham United – twice – Swansea City and Newcastle United, as well as AFC Bournemouth which is joining that top flight next season, and we are delighted they are being equally well employed in this event that, in its ninth edition, continues to go from strength to strength, just like Dubai Sports City as a whole.”

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