Second stage of DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s football at Dubai Sports City kicks off

Sport360 staff 15:17 28/04/2015
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  • Cobra Kai, one of the sides to reach the second stage of the DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s football tournament at Dubai Sports City.

    The 12 sides still in with a chance of winning the DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s football title at the Sports Village at Dubai Sports City have been confirmed after the league stage of the tournament concluded.

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    Emirates, The Snailmen, The Dane Landers, DMI, Zagros and The Sweaty Cockneys from Division 1 have progressed while, in Division 2, it is Taaj, Cobra Kai, The UAE Boys, Kelloggs, Lukoil and ABCDE FC that have made the cut.

    These line-ups will now play off in two sections, with the top two from each of those going forward to the semi-finals.

    The remaining sides in the tournament that failed to make the top six in each of the two original divisions will play off in the Plate competition.

    The final week of divisional action saw ABCDE FC and The Sweaty Cockneys confirm their places in the top six of their respective divisions.

    The Cockneys side (17 points from 11 matches), in Division 1, took just one point from its final two league games – 1-1 against the divisional leaders Emirates and a 2-0 loss to DMI – but that was still enough to stay ahead of Victory Heights FC (played 11, 15 points).

    And in Division 2, ABCDE FC (played 10, 12 points) also managed to crawl across the line to reach the top six, doing so in the end thanks to other results going its way.

    ABCDE FC finished one point ahead of the PGP Group (played 10, 11 points), with a 2-1 loss to the latter against Vikings FC costing it that sixth spot.

    Fyre (10 points from 10 matches) was a point further back and it, too, would have made the top six had it beaten Cobra Kai instead of losing 2-1.

    Division 1 was topped by Emirates (played 11, 25 points), the only team left unbeaten in the tournament.

    Emirates’ last two league matches produced a 2-1 success against The Snailmen (second in the table, played 11, 24 points) and that 1-1 draw against the Sweaty Cockneys.

    The Snailmen secured the biggest win of the latest set of matches, an 11-0 thrashing of the unfortunate Ranches Rockets, which turned out to be the only side in the divisional stage not to score a single point.

    Former champion side The Dane Landers  (played 11, 23 points) finished third in Division 1, ahead of DMI on goal difference, while Zagros (played 11, 21 points) finished fifth in that ladder.

    The Dane Landers’ latest results – a 3-1 win against Zagros and a 1-1 draw against The Gravitons – took it to 38 goals for the tournament, making it the top-scoring side in the league stages.

    In Division 2 Taaj (played 10, 27 points) secured its place at the top of the table, five points ahead of Cobra Kai (played 10, 22 points), following three wins – 2-0 versus Cobra Kai, 9-2 against Sannirya and 3-0 over The UAE Boys.

    The UAE Boys (played 10, 21 points), Kelloggs (played 10, 20 points) and Lukoil (played 10, 20 points but an inferior goal difference to Kelloggs) completed the top five, just ahead of ABCDE FC.

    Division 2 was made up of 11 teams to Division 1’s 12 because one side withdrew after the tournament began.

    The seven-a-side tournament takes place under floodlights 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 last month.

    Reflecting on the end of the league stage and the play-offs to come, Dubai Sports City General Manager – Sports Business Maqbul Dudhia said: “It was a cracking final week of the divisional stages of the DSC Etihad Monday Night 7s producing some great action.

    “Congratulations to all the sides that have won their way through to the Cup competition, keeping alive their hopes of winning the title. And for all the other sides, there is still the consolation of the Plate competition.

    “That is one of the great aspects of this tournament, that sides get to play plenty of football, whatever their standard and it is one of the reasons why the tournament is growing in popularity every time it is staged.

    “Another reason, of course, is that it takes place at our world-class facilities at our Sports Village.

    “Those facilities 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 set to join 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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